Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek announced the budget developments for 2014 during the "Macroeconomic Developments and the Central Government Budget Realizations for 2014" press conference. According to Şimşek, the budget in 2014 had a deficit of TL 22.7 billion ($9.942 billion), which is TL 10.6 million lower than forecasts, and budget expenditures, budget revenues, tax revenues and non-interest budget expenditures were TL 448.4, TL 425.8, TL 352.4 and TL 398.5 billion, respectively. Şimşek also said that investment worth of TL 55.7 billion was experienced last year, while privatization revenues were recorded as TL 7.8 billion in the same period. Şimşek noted that it is unlikely that the Income Tax Draft Law can be enacted before the elections. The ratio of the central administration budget deficit to gross domestic product (GDP) must have dropped to 1.3 percent last year, Şimşek said, while the ratio of gross public debt stock to GDP fell around 33 percent. Şimşek also added that they will not practice election economics and will maintain budgetary discipline. Şimşek said that the Turkish economy must have grown by around 3 percent in 2014, adding that they have more positive growth prospects for this year and that they might achieve a growth of 4 percent.
