Turkey's budget posts surplus in May

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Achieving a year-end budget target isimportant, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek says. AA photo

Turkey’s budget surplus soared 61.8 percent in May, reaching 4.6 billion Turkish Liras, while registering an 85.4 percent rise in the budget deficit in the first five months of the year compared with the same month last year, according to a Ministry of Finance report issued June 15. The primary surplus was up 1.4 percent year-on-year and hit 7 billion liras in the same period.

In May, tax revenues were up 13.7 percent from the same period in 2011 and totaled nearly 26.5 billion liras. Budget revenues rose 13.6 percent to 30.8 billion liras last month, up from 27.1 billion in May 2011.

However, the budget registered a 432 million deficit in the first five months of the year, rising 85.4 percent compared with the same period in 2011, while registering a 23.9 billion lira primary surplus, rising 16 percent.
Budgetary revenues rose 15.1 percent year-on-year to 137.4 billion liras, and tax revenues in this period rose 10.9 percent to 110.9 billion liras in the same period.

Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said the improvement in tax revenues in May was encouraging when budget realization in May is compared with the first four months of the year. 

Budgetary expenses in May rose 8 percent to 26.2 billion liras compared to the same month last year, while the figure, excluding interest payments, went up 17.8 percent and was recorded as 23.8 billion liras. The total estimated budgetary expense for 2012 is about 351 billion liras.

“Achieving year-end targets is what counts,” said Şimşek, adding that every necessary measure would be taken to meet year-end targets, and that fiscal discipline would continue to be the most important anchor.