Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spent 176 percent more in the January-June period of 2024 than he spent in the same period last year, the Cumhuriyet daily reported on Friday, citing data from the Presidential Strategy and Budget Office.
According to a recent report by the office, Erdoğan spent TL 6.1 billion ($183 million) in the first six months of 2024, a 176.8 percent increase over the TL 2.1 billion ($63 million) spent in the same period of 2023.
The report also revealed that the expenditures of all public institutions within the scope of the general budget increased except for the Presidential Strategy and Budget Office and the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).
Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), which benefits from a bigger budget than most government agencies and operates a sizable network of mosques around the world, spent TL 46.7 billion ($1.4 billion) in the first six months of 2024, an increase of 137.3 percent over the same period last year.
The report, which also includes expectations and targets for the July-December period, predicts that the budget will end the year with a deficit of over TL 2 trillion ($60 billion).
The surges come as Turkey has been suffering from a deteriorating economy, with high inflation and unemployment, as well as a poor human rights record, over the past several years. Erdoğan is criticized for mishandling the economy, emptying the state’s coffers and establishing a one-man rule in the country where dissent is suppressed and opponents are jailed on politically motivated charges.
Turkey’s annual inflation stood at 71.6 percent in June, slowing after reaching a peak of 75.45 percent in May.