Turkey registered a record surplus in its central government budget in May, official data showed Wednesday, propelled by a surge in tax income.
The budget posted a surplus of TL 144 billion ($8.3 billion) last month, the Treasury and Finance Ministry said, after running a deficit for two consecutive months.
Turkey looks set to achieve its target of a 3.5% budget deficit-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio this year due to a positive trend in growth and budget revenues, Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said after the release of the data.
Nebati said on Twitter that Turkey was performing significantly better than many other countries in public finance this year.
Government revenues jumped 204% year-over-year in May to TL 317.8 billion, the data showed, of which TL 289.7 billion were tax revenues. Tax income surged 214% from a year earlier.
Spending rose 47.33% from a year ago to TL 173.77 billion, the data showed. Excluding interest payments, the budget balance recorded a surplus of TL 161.88 billion.
The Treasury lent TL 8.2 billion to state energy importer BOTAŞ in May, data also showed, bringing the total to TL 66.4 billion in the first five months of the year.
The data indicate “a significant fiscal space” thanks to a primary surplus that reached TL 246.5 billion in the first five months of the year, Nebati said.
“The positive trend in growth and budgetary income shows that the budget deficit-to-GDP target of 3.5% will be attained,” he added.
In the first five months of the year, the budget showed a surplus of TL 124.62 billion, the data indicated.
Revenues almost doubled from a year ago to TL 1.08 trillion. Expenditures rose 74.5% from a year earlier to nearly TL 959.77 billion.
Tax revenues totaled TL 881.15 billion, while interest payments came in at TL 121.88 billion.
The budget balance is expected to post a deficit of TL 278.3 billion at the end of this year, according to the ministry’s figures.
The budget posted deficits both in May and in the first five-month period last year.
