Turkish parl. approves austerity budget

Mon Dec 27, 2010

The Turkish parliament has approved an austerity budget for 2011, which aims at fiscal belt-tightening while encouraging growth, the country's finance minister says.

Mehmet Simsek said on Sunday that the budget stands at 312.5 billion Turkish liras (almost 153.7 billion euros).

The budget provides for a deficit of about 16.5 billion euros. Revenues were pegged at 104 billion euros, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.

Turkey, with a population of 77 million, is ranked 17th in the world in terms of economic power and boasts one of the highest global growth rates.

While the main opposition Republican People's Party, or CHP, has been attempting to draw attention to the social deficiencies it sees in the 2011 proposals, the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, argued that the budget would not be sufficient to fulfill the pledges made by opposition party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Turkey was the quickest country to have emerged from the global economic crisis and "its growth is exemplary," the finance minister said before parliament voted on Turkey's fiscal year that begins in January.

Economic success is vital for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of general elections next year, in which his AKP will seek a third straight term in power.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/157315.html.