The Turkish Ministry of Finance has reported that the budget deficit in February exceeds 170 billion lira.

The Turkish Ministry of Finance announced on Wednesday that the government’s budget for February recorded a deficit of 170.56 billion lira, equivalent to 8.99 billion dollars.

This was due to the devastating earthquakes that hit the country’s southeast region last month.

The Ministry stated that the primary budget, not including interest payments, had a deficit of 136.34 billion Liras according to Reuters.

Last February, the Union of Companies and Businesses in Turkey estimated the earthquake losses to be around 84 billion dollars, anticipating an increase in the budget deficit from 3.5% to at least 5.4%.

It has been confirmed that over 35,000 people were killed in northern Syria and southern Turkey due to powerful earthquakes that occurred last Monday, leaving behind extensive destruction throughout the region.

Thousands of buildings, including homes and hospitals, as well as roads, pipelines, and other infrastructure, have been severely damaged.

Fitch Ratings agency had predicted that the economic losses resulting from the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria would exceed two billion dollars and could reach four billion dollars or more.

It is anticipated that earthquakes will cause damage to production in the devastated regions, which account for 9.3% of Turkey’s gross domestic product.