ISTANBUL: The Turkish budget deficit was 139.1 billion lira ($7.4 billion) last year and its ratio to gross domestic product was expected to be less than 1%, Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said on Monday.

He also told a news conference that the budget’s primary surplus in 2022 was 171.8 billion lira.

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Under the government’s medium-term economic programme, the budget deficit-to-GDP ratio had been forecast to be 3.4% in 2022.