Istanbul gives Turkey’s budget a boost

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

DAILY NEWS Photo

Istanbul is boosting state income by bringing in nearly half of all tax revenues collected by the Treasury, according to figures released by the Finance Ministry.

Istanbul single-handedly contributed a sweeping 46.07 percent of the entire state budget with 185 billion Turkish Liras ($71 billion at the current exchange rate) in 2014.

The province of Istanbul also boosted the country’s exports by providing nearly half of Turkey’s foreign trade in 2014, according to the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TİM).

Ankara, meanwhile, provided some 44 billion liras ($17 billion), 11 percent of the state budget, to the Treasury.

The western port city of Izmir provided about 42.3 billion lira ($16.1 billion) – 10.5 percent of the budget.

The industrial hub of Kocaeli, Istanbul’s immediate neighbor and home to the country’s sole oil refinery, came in fourth, providing some 40 billion liras ($15.2 billion).

A total of 448.4 billion liras ($171 billion) was spent from the Central Administration Budget over the past year.

The Turkish government spent approximately 110 billion liras on its employees in the fiscal year 2014 alone – a price tag that makes employee payments that year the government’s largest expenditure. Nearly 50 billion liras were spent on interest rate expenses in 2014.

The biggest share of the 2014 general budget was allocated to the Education Ministry with $35.6 billion, ahead of $33.5 billion to the Health Ministry.

The Finance Ministry estimated budget expenses for the 2015 fiscal year at 520.4 billion liras, while budget income for 2014 is estimated at 499.5 billion liras, resulting in a budget deficit of 20.9 billion liras.

The biggest share of the budget was allocated to the education and health ministries, with each being earmarked for $38 billion in 2015.