Türkiye’s public budget shrank in January when compared to a month earlier, official data showed on Thursday as expenditures slightly weighed over revenues, delivering a shift from a surplus registered in the same month year earlier, as spending increased following devastating earthquakes last year and May elections.
The central government budget registered a shortfall of TL 150.7 billion ($4.9 billion) in January, the Treasury and Finance Ministry data showed.
It shrank from a gap of TL 842.5 billion in the prior month, while it shifted from a surplus of TL 30 billion in January 2023, the data showed. The budget swung to a deficit in December, following a TL 75.6 billion surplus in November.
Türkiye’s budget revenues stood at TL 617.3 billion, while expenditures totaled TL 768 billion last month, according to the data. The revenues stood at TL 289.8 billion in January 2023, thus surging by 113.5% year-over-year.
Non-interest budget expenses increased by 115.7% compared to the same month last year, reaching TL 646.9 billion, while interest payments amounted to TL 121.1 billion in January.
Türkiye last July raised taxes on petrol and hiked value-added taxes (VAT) as part of moves to boost revenues after the sharp rise in spending related to the earthquakes that struck the southeastern region and the May presidential and parliamentary elections.
The budget deficit however ran a deficit of TL 1.37 trillion throughout the year, according to the official data last month, mainly due to quake-related spending, leaping from TL 142.7 billion shortfall in 2022.
