The budget deficit in January and February combined was TL 1 billion. The budget deficit in March in 2011 was TL 6.1 billion.
Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek announced the budget performance for the first quarter at a press conference on Monday in Ankara. The minister said the total budget deficit in the first quarter of this year was TL 6.5 billion, representing a TL 2.4 billion increase in the budget deficit over the same quarter of 2011. Şimşek cited increased interest payments as the major factor for the swelling deficit in the budget. Observers had earlier argued a series of recent tax hikes would contribute to budget balances.
Turkey's primary surplus was TL 10.9 billion in the first quarter of the year. Budget revenue approached $77.4 billion -- an increase of 12.6 percent -- in the January-March period over the same months of 2011. Budget expenditures increased by 15.1 percent to reach $83.8 billion in the same period.
Tax revenue also increased by 12.2 percent and hit $64.5 billion in the first quarter. Şimşek said the government had implemented a number of measures to balance what he called “unhealthy growth” in 2011. “The Turkish economy expanded by 8.5 percent last year over 2010, and this was very fast growth. …We are expecting the markets to cool down, resulting in more sustainable and well-balanced growth for this year,” he explained.
Making mention of an anticipated hike in civil servant salaries, the minister said the government was considering a “favorable” salary hike. “We have limited sources for this [money to be allocated to civil servant wage hikes], but I expect the collective bargaining talks to yield favorable results,” he explained. Parliament recently amended the law governing civil servant rights, giving civil servants the right to bargain collectively.
Representatives from the Civil Servants' Trade Union (Memur-Sen) met on Monday in Ankara with Labor Minister Faruk Çelik, discussing when the collective bargaining talks should begin. Çelik had earlier said talks would begin on April 30. Memur-Sen, however, says they are ready to begin talks as soon as possible and conveyed this message to Çelik on Monday. Already uneasy with rumors that the government's offer for wage hikes would be around 3 percent -- much less than expected -- civil servants accused the government of trying to buy time. Hacı Bayram Tonbul, the Memur-Sen official responsible for collective bargaining talks, said on Monday that a 3 percent salary increase for Turkey's nearly 2.5 million civil servants “would not be accepted” and that they would take to the streets. Prior to the amendment to the law on collective bargaining by civil servants, civil servant unions used to meet with the government once each year for negotiations. However, they did not have a legal right to take to the streets, strike or undertake a work slowdown if the government turned their demands for a wage hike down.
Noting that the government has faith the budget targets for this year will easily be met, Şimşek said the government did not expect extra-budgetary spending.
|
Source : todayszaman.com
Hit : 718
|
