12 January 2010 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
The 2009 budget deficit might surpass its revised target due to a large amount of money transferred from the state to the Social Security Institution (SGK), a report by the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) has said.
According to the foundation’s financial follow-up report for the period of October-November 2009, money allocated to the SGK budget increased by 57.6 percent in the first 11 months of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008. TEPAV remarked that the SGK budget imbalance stemmed not only from the global financial downturn but also structural troubles, explaining: “Premium revenues increased by 8.4 percent despite the fact that the number of registered workers decreased during this period. Yet, health expenses rose by about 14 percent.” The government did not anticipate all the financial effects of the new SGK regulations, the report stated. As a result, TEPAV warned that the 2009 budget deficit, which was estimated to be TL 50 billion, might exceed the revised target due to the SGK’s large budget deficit.
