Turkey runs $1.64B budget surplus in Jan-Aug

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s government ran a budget surplus of 3.6 billion Turkish liras ($1.2 billion) in August and 4.9 billion liras ($1.64 billion) in January-August, said Turkish Finance Minister Naci Agbal on Monday.

“Public finance is the main anchor that the foundation of the solid Turkish economy rests on," he said in a statement.

Turkish government revenues in August stood at 50.9 billion Turkish liras ($17.1 billion), an 18.9 percent rise year-on-year, while budget expenditures were 47.3 billion Turkish liras ($15.8 billion), up 25.9 percent from a year earlier.

"These results are a clear indication that we are maintaining fiscal discipline," Agbal added

According to the ministry, Turkish government’s budget revenues reached 368.4 billion Turkish liras ($123.7 billion) in the first eight months of the year, a 15 percent rise over the same period last year.

Tax revenues also rose nearly 11 percent within the period to 298.1 billion liras ($100.1 billion). Budget expenditures in January-August rose to 316.3 billion Turkish liras ($107 billion), marking a 12.1 percent increase year-on-year.

The government's expenditures for health, pensions, and welfare rose nearly 20.9 percent in the first eight months of the year to 14.6 billion liras ($4.94 billion) compared with the same period last year.

Personnel expenditures rose 21.1 percent, reaching 89.3 billion lira ($30.2 billion) in January-August 2016.

Interest expenditures stood at 35.43 billion liras ($11.9 billion) in that period, a fall of 7.7 percent.

The government is aiming for a budget deficit of 29.7 billion Turkish liras (nearly $10 billion) at the end of the year, according to the Finance Ministry.