Government runs budget surplus in May: Minister

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

DHA Photo

Despite the lower levels of economic growth than the targets, the country will meet its budgetary target of 2015, says Minister Mehmet Şimşek. 

Turkey’s central government ran a budget surplus of 1.6 billion Turkish Liras ($588 million) in May, the Finance Ministry reported in a statement on June 15. The deficit in the first five months of the year was 2.4 billion liras ($882 million), the statement said.

“Despite the low levels of growth of the Turkish economy compared with our target, the economy will easily meet our budgetary target of 2015,” Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said in the statement.

There was a budget surplus of 1.6 billion liras ($540 million) in April, a deficit of 6.8 billion liras ($2.6 billion) in March and 2.4 billion liras ($915 million) in February and a 3.8 billion liras ($1.54 billion) surplus in January.

According to the ministry, the government’s budget revenues have reached 197.9 billion liras ($73 billion) in the first five months of 2015, a 12.5 percent increase compared with the same period in 2014.

Budget expenditures for the same period rose to 200.4 billion liras ($73.62 billion), marking a 12.1 percent increase year-on-year. Government revenue in May was 41.8 billion liras ($15.4 billion) with an 11.2 percent increase year-on-year, while budget expenditure was 40.1 billion liras ($14.7 billion), up 11.2 percent from a year earlier.