The central government budget of Turkey posted a deficit of TL 132.5 billion ($6.8 billion) in April, the Treasury and Finance Ministry said Monday.
The shortfall rose from TL 47.22 billion ($2.4 billion) in March. It pushed the cumulative deficit for 2023 so far to TL 382.5 billion ($19. 5 billion), mainly due to devastating earthquakes that ripped through the southeastern region in early February.
Budget revenues came in at TL 268 billion ($13.6 billion), while expenditures amounted to TL 400 billion ($20.3 billion) last month, figures from the Treasury and Finance Ministry showed.
The gap widened sharply after the earthquakes that killed over 50,000 people, toppling hundreds of thousands of buildings and ripping the southeastern region’s infrastructure.
In February, the budget deficit stood at TL 170.56 billion ($8.7 billion), and the cumulative figure for the first two months of the year was TL 202.8 billion ($10.3 billion).
The government implemented bumper measures to minimize the earthquake's impact on the economy, such as delaying debt payments and offering wages and support money to quake victims, which have also widened the deficit.
Economists reckon government spending on rebuilding and aid efforts could lift the ratio of budget deficit to gross domestic product (GDP) to above 5% this year, up from Ankara's forecast last September of 3.5%. It stood at around 1% in 2022, despite widening in recent years.
The economic cost of the earthquakes is estimated to be more than $100 billion and is expected to shave one to two percentage points off economic growth this year.
Non-interest expenditures in April came in at TL 365.9 billion ($18.6 billion), while interest payments stood at TL 34.5 billion ($1.75 billion), the data showed.
The primary balance, which excludes interest payments, logged a deficit of TL 98 billion ($5 billion), while tax revenues reached TL 232.7 billion ($11.8 billion).
One U.S. dollar traded for 19.3478 liras on average in April. The same rate stood at 18.9382 on average in the first four months.
In the January-April period, budget revenues reached TL 1.1 trillion ($56 billion), while expenditures amounted to TL 1.4 trillion ($71.2 billion), Daily Sabah reports.
