Beating budget gap target, Turkish gov't saves $9.5B in 2020

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's central government saved around 66.5 billion Turkish liras ($9.5 billion) in 2020, Treasury and Finance Minister Lutfi Elvan said on Monday, citing budget balance figures which beat the year's target.

"We will never compromise on fiscal discipline, except for fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," Elvan wrote on Twitter.

The government's budget balance posted a 172.7 billion Turkish lira ($24.7 billion) deficit in 2020, below the target of 239.2 billion Turkish liras ($34 billion), he said, underlining that fiscal policies will continue to be in line with anti-inflationary policies.

"We are taking permanent measures to improve the 2021 budget," he tweeted, sharing that the government's target for 2021 budget deficit is 3.5% of the GDP.

Announcing budget balance figures last week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said if the growth target for 2020 is achieved, the budget-deficit-to-GDP ratio would hit 3.6%, beating the mid-term program target.

"Our macroeconomic policies will ensure a balanced demand and sustainable growth," the finance minister said.

Under the country’s new economic program announced last September, the government expected to see a 4.9% budget-deficit-to-gross-domestic-product ratio in 2020.

In 2020, the average US dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was around 7.02.