Turkey's budget records $1.4B surplus in November

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's central government budget balance posted a surplus of 7.57 billion Turkish liras ($1.4 billion) in November, the Treasury and Finance Ministry announced on Monday.

The country's budget revenues totaled 81.9 billion Turkish liras ($15.3 billion), rising 25.6 percent year-on-year, the ministry said in a monthly report.

During the same period, budget expenditures saw an annual hike of 31.1 percent to reach 74.3 billion Turkish liras ($13.9 billion), data showed.

The budget balance, excluding interest payments, saw a surplus of 14.8 billion Turkish liras (some $2.8 billion) in November.

- Jan-Nov period

From January to November, the budget posted a deficit of 54.5 billion Turkish liras ($11.2 billion).

The country's budget revenues reached 690.8 billion Turkish liras ($142.1 billion) in the first 11 months of this year, a rise of 20.2 percent annually.

Budget expenditures were 745.4 billion Turkish liras ($153.3 billion), increasing 24 percent in the same period.

Tax incomes went up 17.7 percent to reach 575.8 billion Turkish liras ($118.5 billion).

The budget balance excluding interest payments saw a surplus of some 17.3 billion Turkish liras (nearly $3.6 million) in the January-November period.

The average U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate last month was 5.35, while one dollar was traded for 4.86 liras on average from January to November.