The Turkish defense ministry has won the main share in the draft budget for 2001, obtaining about 10.5 percent of expenditure, figures from Finance Minister Sumer Oral showed on Wednesday.
The budget is predicated on economic growth of 4.5 percent next year and a sharp reduction of high inflation.
The defense allocation, ranking third after funding for the treasury and the finance ministry, amounted to 5.1 million billion liras (7.6 billion dollars) in the overall draft budget, planned at 48.4 million billion liras (72.1 billion dollars).
In 2000, the defense ministry was allocated 4.1 million billion liras, or 8.8 percent of the entire budget.
The 2001 draft budget, which was submitted to parliament late on Tuesday, foresees revenues of 43.1 million billion liras and a growth rate of 4.5 percent, Oral told a news conference in Ankara.
Consolidated budget deficit is expected to reach 5.3 million billion liras and there is expected to be primary surplus before interest payments of 11.4 million billion liras, he added.
The draft also plans to reduce inflation of 49 percent to 10 percent regarding consumer prices, and to 12 percent for wholesale prices, at the end of next year.
In the draft, the education ministry receives four million billion liras, or 8.4 percent of the budget, while the health ministry gets only 1.2 million billion liras, or 2.6 percent of the budget.
"This budget has been prepared with the aim of getting closer to the targets of the three-year anti-inflation program," Oral said.
In December 1999, Turkey launched a vigorous economic program under a three-year, four-billion-dollar stand-by deal with the International Monetary Fund to reduce inflation and overhaul its troubled economy -- ANKARA (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
