Türkiye's parliament voted early Tuesday to approve the ruling Justice and Development Party's budget for 2007, with 306 lawmakers in favor and 148 opposed. The plan, totaling 204.9 billion lira, projects spending roughly 17 percent above 2006 levels and forecasts revenues of 188.2 billion lira.
The budget projects a deficit of 16.7 billion lira, somewhat larger than the prior year's target of 14.6 billion lira. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended the plan during a grueling 35-hour final session that concluded just after 2 a.m., pledging strict adherence to its targets.
Opposition leader Deniz Baykal sharply criticized the government's economic record, warning that the foreign trade deficit had ballooned from 14 billion dollars in 2002 to 52 billion dollars. Debate grew so heated that the session was briefly suspended amid unruly exchanges between rival lawmakers.
The budget continues Türkiye's commitment to IMF-guided fiscal discipline established under a 10-billion-dollar, three-year stand-by agreement signed in May 2005. That partnership followed an earlier program that pulled the country back from financial collapse. Türkiye's economy has since grown strongly, recording 7.6 percent growth and 7.7 percent inflation in 2005, and Ankara hopes continued reforms will support its European Union membership bid.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in December 2006, in its own words.