Türkiye’s budget deficit will double by 900% to reach $46.5 billion in 2023

Türkiye’s budget deficit increased significantly in 2023, reaching about 1.4 trillion Turkish liras, equivalent to about $46.5 billion, according to Treasury and Finance Ministry data.

Although these numbers rose by nearly 900%, they were lower than the government’s expectations, which had expected a deficit of 1.6 trillion Turkish liras, or about 6.4% of GDP.

Despite the difficult circumstances that the Turkish economy went through last year, including the presidential elections and strong earthquakes, the government welcomed the final numbers, which were lower than expectations.

It’s noteworthy that tax revenues contributed to offsetting some of the increase in spending during the year, as the government raised taxes on fuel by about 200% in July to finance the damage caused by the earthquakes, and increased some value-added tax rates.