Central government budget posts surplus in May

ANKARA

The central government budget posted a surplus in May after production deficits in the previous four months this year.

The budget surplus was 219.4 billion ($6.7 billion) last month, data from the Finance Ministry showed on June 20.

Revenues rose 83.3 percent in May from a year ago to 1 trillion liras, with tax collection rising 77 percent annually to 898 billion liras.

Corporate tax revenues surged 135 percent, while the annual increases in value-added tax and special consumption tax revenues were 108 percent and 86 percent, respectively.

Reports in local media last week suggested that the government plans to introduce a new package to parliament by the end of this month, aiming to raise an additional 226 billion liras, equal to about 0.7 percent of gross domestic product, in tax revenues.

The new tax package foresees increases in taxes on multinational and local companies as well as other taxes, according to the reports.

The central government’s revenues rose by 83 percent to 788 billion liras in May, according to the numbers of the Finance Ministry.

Non-interest expenditures leaped 107 percent annually to 677 billion liras, while the year-on-year increase in interest expenditures was limited to 7.7 percent to 111 billion liras.

Consequently, the central government budget produced a primary surplus of 330 billion last month, a 49 percent increase from May 2023. In the previous four months, the budget ran primary deficits.

In January-May, budget revenues increased 101 percent from a year ago to 2.7 trillion liras, while expenditures surged 98 billion to 3.7 trillion liras.

The budget deficit in the first five months of 2024 rose by 79 percent year-on-year to 472 billion liras.

The primary surplus was 3.2 billion liras, comparing favorably with the primary deficit of 25.77 billion in January-May last year.