Turkish March primary deficit 12.4bn lira

ANKARA: Turkey's primary deficit was 12.4 billion lira ($3.38 billion) in March, finance ministry data showed on Monday, compared with a 0.16 billion lira surplus in the same period a year ago.

The budget deficit jumped to 19.5 billion lira ($5.3 billion) in March, bringing the first quarter deficit to 14.9 billion lira, Finance Minister Naci Agbal said.