Turkey Budget Gap Jumps to Record High as Spending Surges

(Bloomberg) -- Turkey posted a budget deficit for a fourth month in July and the gap widened to the highest in data going back to 2006.

The government posted a fiscal deficit of 45.8 billion liras ($5.4 billion) last month, compared with a gap of 29.7 billion liras a year earlier. The shortfall was 25 billion liras in June.

Key Insights

• Spending rose 21.4% to 141.1 billion liras, driven by a 180% surge in interest payments from a year earlier
• Revenue rose 10.1% during the same period, well under annual inflation of 18.95%
• Income from the special consumption tax -- a main source of revenue -- dropped 15.4% to 18.6 billion liras

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• The Treasury posted a record cash budget deficit of 67.9 billion liras in July and a primary gap of 46.2 billion liras

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