Budget deficit continues to widen in March, show data

ANKARA

The central government budget deficit continued to widen in March, the data from the Treasury and Finance Ministry have shown.

The budget produced a deficit of 209 billion Turkish Liras ($6.45 billion) last month, after running deficits of 150.7 billion liras in January and 153.8 billion liras in February.

Revenues increased by 68.7 percent annually to 484 billion liras in March, with tax revenues rising nearly 112 percent.

The value-added tax collection soared 492 percent year-on-year to 49 billion liras, while revenues from special consumption tax increased 102 percent to 96.6 billion liras.

Expenditures amounted to 693 billion liras, rising more than 107 percent compared with March 2023.

The annual increase in non-interest expenditures was 114 percent to 618 billion liras. Interest expenditures were up 65.4 percent annually to 74.6 billion liras.

Consequently, the central government budget posted a primary deficit of 13.4 billion liras, comparing unfavorably with the deficit of 2.15 billion liras in March last year.

The budget ran primary deficits of 151 billion liras and 154 billion liras in January and February, respectively.

In the first quarter of 2024, the budget deficit climbed to 513.8 billion liras from 250 billion liras in January-March last year.

The primary deficit also widened by 76 percent year-on-year to 263 billion in the first three months of 2024, the data from the ministry showed.

In the medium-term program, the government forecasts a deficit of 2.65 trillion liras or 6.4 percent of GDP for 2024. According to the government estimates, the deficit will shrink to 1.8 trillion liras next year and down to 3.4 percent of national income in 2025.