(Bloomberg) --
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Turkey posted its biggest monthly budget deficit as measures to slow the coronavirus outbreak paralyzed economic activity while tax deferrals chipped away at government revenue.
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The central government ran a monthly fiscal gap of 43.7 billion liras ($6.4 billion) in March, the biggest in data doing back to 2006. That compares with a deficit of 24.5 billion liras a year earlier and an annual gap of 123.7 billion liras in 2019.
Turkey began gradually restricting people’s mobility in March and unveiled a 100 billion-lira ($14.9 billion) stimulus package largely consisting of tax deferrals to help businesses ride out the economic storm caused by the pandemic.
Key Insights
- Spending excluding interest payments rose an annual 18.3% to 91.2 billion liras
- Tax income dropped 10.1% as the government postponed the collection of added and income tax. Income reached 37 billion liras in March, compared with 41.1 billion liras a year earlier
- Revenue fell 12.7% from a year earlier, indicating a significant decrease in real terms when adjusted for consumer inflation of 11.9%
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- Turkey’s Treasury posted a cash budget deficit of 40.4 billion liras in March and a primary gap of about 29.4 billion liras
- Read more on Turkey’s fiscal measures: Turkey Unveils $15.4 Billion Plan to Counter Virus Outbreak
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