UPDATE WITH OFFICIAL FIGURES FROM THE MINISTRY AND BACKGROUND
By Tuba Sahin
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey's budget deficit stood at 72.6 billion Turkish liras ($14.8 billion) in 2018, meeting a year-end target under the country's new economic program, the treasury and finance minister said Tuesday.
“We reached the target of a 1.9 percent budget-deficit-to-gross-domestic-product ratio under the new economic program, ” Berat Albayrak wrote on Twitter.
The country's budget revenues rose 20.2 percent to reach 757.8 billion liras ($154.6 billion) in January-December 2018, while tax incomes climbed 15.8 percent to 621.3 billion liras ($126.8 billion), Albayrak noted.
He said budget expenditures rose to 830.5 billion liras ($170 billion), up 22.4 percent during the same period.
“Our strong public financial structure and fiscal discipline are among Turkey's most important anchors, ” Albayrak said.
The budget balance, excluding interest payments, posted a surplus of 1.35 billion Turkish liras (some $274.7 million), according to Treasury and Finance Ministry data.
Data showed that interest payments were nearly 74 billion Turkish liras ($15.1 billion) over the same period.
The average U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate last year was around 4.90.
According to the new economic program, the budget deficit/GDP ratio target is 1.8 percent this year, 1.9 percent next year, and 1.7 percent in 2021.
