The gross debt stock of Turkey's central government increased by 4% m/m and 19% y/y to stand at Turkish lira (TRY) 959bn (€175bn) in May, the Treasury said on June 20.
Annual growth in the government’s gross debt stock declined to 12% in December and it has since been on an escalating path month by month.
The gross debt stock was TRY760bn at the end of 2016 and TRY876.5bn at end-2017.
The government’s domestic debt stock rose by 0.61% m/m to TRY556bn, while the external debt stock edged up 9.37% m/m to TRY403bn due to the sharp decline in the value of the Turkish lira during May.
Across January-May, Turkey’s budget deficit expanded by 78% y/y to TRY20.5bn.
For the full year of 2017, the central government budget balance showed a deficit of TRY47.4bn, below expectations at around 1.5% of GDP.
Under Turkey’s medium-term economic programme, the targets for the budget deficit/GDP ratio are 1.9% for both 2018 and 2019 and 1.6% in 2020.
The government’s budget was stretched by a set of economic stimulus measures brought in during the build-up to the April 2017 referendum, which officially resulted in a Yes vote for an executive presidency.
On May 1, the Turkish government announced election incentives for 12mn retirees that will cost TRY22-24bn by year-end.