Speaking at a press meeting on "Macroeconomic Developments and Results of Implementation of the Central Administration Budget" for January to June, Finance Minister Naci Ağbal announced that Turkey's budget had a deficit of TL 7.9 billion ($2.74 billion), but a surplus of TL 3.2 billion for the same period the previous year.
Ağbal said that in cumulative terms, the budget experienced a surplus of TL 1.1 billion in the first half of the year compared to a surplus of TL 803 million for the same period last year and that the budget is performing relatively better than last year.
Meanwhile, calendar-adjusted industrial production increased by 5.6 percent in May compared to the same month last year, above expectations, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) on Thursday. Based on this, Ağbal said this increased optimism concerning growth in the second quarter, which is expected to surpass 4 percent, adding that developments in foreign policy and the continuing decline in inflation and unemployment announced Friday at 9.3 percent, almost a two-year low, are all factors supporting economic growth, which should positively affect budget developments.
