Budget deficit will be less than 5 pct of GDP this year: VP Yılmaz

İZMİR

The budget deficit is expected to fall below 5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of 2024, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz has said.

In the medium-term program, the government predicted that the central government budget would be 2.65 trillion Turkish Liras or 6.4 percent of the estimated GDP.

The government kept the budget deficit under control despite the 2 trillion liras allocated from the budget in two years, for the biggest earthquake disaster in the country's history, Yılmaz said.

Last year, the budget deficit was 5.3 percent of national income, which was much better than the initially projected deficit of 6.4 percent, he added.

The central government budget ran a deficit of 844 billion liras in the January-July, up from a deficit of 435 billion in the same period of 2023.

The primary deficit rose from 121 billion liras to 177 billion liras.

The government is expected to unveil the new medium-term program, which will include updated macroeconomic forecasts and targets, in September.

The Turkish economy is going through a period where the current account and budget deficits are falling, risks are declining and stability is increasing, Yılmaz also said.

The vice president reiterated that the inflation outlook is improving, and disinflation began in June.

Due to base effect and the favorable impacts of the economic program, the August annual inflation rate is likely to come in at around 50 percent, Yılmaz said, adding that inflation will fall below 50 percent in September.