Turkey runs nearly $2.2B budget surplus in November

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish government ran a budget surplus of 8.5 billion Turkish liras ($2.2 billion) this November, but a 26.5 billion ($6.58 billion) deficit in the first 11 months of 2017, the Finance Ministry announced on Friday.

According to the ministry, tax revenues rose 16.7 percent during the first 11 months to 489.3 billion liras ($126.5 billion).

In November, budget revenues reached 65.2 billion liras ($16.8 billion), a 7 percent rise over the same period last year, while budget expenditures climbed 11.8 percent to 56.7 billion liras ($14.6 billion).

The government is aiming for a budget deficit of 46.8 billion liras (nearly $12.8 billion) at the end of the year, according to the ministry.