Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz announced that the Turkish government projected a budget deficit of 2.1 trillion Turkish liras ($61.67B) for 2024 during his presentation at the newly initiated budget discussions in parliament.
The Turkish Parliament on Dec. 9 began discussions on the 2025 Central Government Budget. All political parties represented in Parliament, including their leaders, attended the General Assembly sessions in full for the budget talks.
Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş opened the session on budget discussions with remarks on developments in Syria.
Emphasizing that Syria’s territorial integrity remains one of Turkey’s top priorities, Kurtulmuş stated, “Preserving Syria’s sovereignty and ensuring its territorial integrity are crucial both for the future of the Syrian people and for Turkey’s national interests.”
He added that Turkey was prepared to cooperate with any new administration established in Syria and was committed to fulfilling its responsibilities to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees currently residing in Turkey.
Following Speaker Kurtulmuş’s address, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz took the rostrum to present the budget, painting an optimistic picture of Turkey’s economy amid its ongoing deep economic crisis.
Yılmaz claimed, “Efforts have been made and necessary steps taken to ensure that the reduction in inflation levels will permanently improve the welfare of citizens.”
Yılmaz argued that despite weak external demand, geopolitical tensions, and the earthquakes, the Turkish economy grew by 5.1% in 2023. He emphasized, “This success has ensured the continuation of a 14-year uninterrupted growth trend.”
Yılmaz attributed the record budget deficit of 1.38 trillion Turkish liras in 2023 to 960 billion liras in earthquake-related expenditures.
For 2024, Yılmaz announced that the government projected a budget deficit of 2.148 trillion liras ($61,67B).
According to the data presented by Yılmaz, 3.9 trillion liras of the 2025 budget would be allocated for personnel expenses, while 1.9 trillion liras would be designated for interest payments. The projected expenditure for the purchase of goods and services in the central government budget for 2025 was recorded at one trillion liras.
Accordingly, the estimated revenue figures for 2025 would include 2.12 trillion liras from Special Consumption Tax (ÖTV), 3.6 trillion TL from value added taxes (VAT, KDV), and 1.66 trillion liras from other tax revenues.
Scenes from parliament
The first day of the budget discussions, during which all opposition leaders took the floor, lasted nearly 12 hours in total.
A highlight of the day was when far-right Natinalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli applauded the speech of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan. Bakırhan also greeted Bahçeli with a nod of his head.
After the first round of discussions concluded, Parliament Speaker Kurtulmuş shook hands with the leaders of the all political parties.
The budget discussions, which officially began in the parliament on Dec. 9, will continue uninterrupted until Dec.20.
Due to these discussions, no visitors will be allowed in the Parliament, and political party group meetings will not take place.
After the discussions on the budgets of public institutions, the process will conclude on Dec. 20 with a vote on the overall budget.
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