Savings package in the public sector

Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz and Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek stood before the cameras for the details of the public savings package. The package, which includes three main headings, includes measures in many areas from vehicles to public buildings, from investment projects to other types of expenditures. Within the scope of the package, no new personnel will be hired for the public sector, except for those who have retired, and no new vehicles will be purchased or rented for the public sector for 3 years. The savings package, which was announced at a joint press conference held by Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek and Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, focuses on vehicles, buildings, public employment, efficiency in administrative structuring, temporary assignment expenses abroad, energy and waste management, and communication expenses. Şimşek stated that no new public investment projects will be undertaken except in cases of necessity, and that vehicle purchases and rentals will be suspended for three years. Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said, “The public saving and increasing efficiency will lead to a lower budget deficit, lower public borrowing and interest burden, an increase in our macro savings rate, and a lower current account deficit.” Yılmaz’s prominent statements regarding the savings package were as follows: This package makes sense together with the other packages that we have put forward in a holistic framework and that support each other. The package contributes to our determined fight against inflation, which our people see as a fundamental problem. We aim to produce more results per unit resource by focusing on current needs and using new methods and technologies without disrupting public services. With our savings program in the public sector, we are not only reducing non-essential expenditures, but also focusing on efficiency in public consumption and investment expenditures. We will start to see the significant results of the OVP’s policies aimed at reducing inflation on an annual basis in the second half of this year. The budget deficit, which was estimated to be 6.4 percent of national income last year, was realized as 5.2 percent at the end of the year. We aim to recover at a similar rate at the end of this year. In addition to spending discipline, the improvement we will provide in public revenues through methods such as increasing collection rates and combating informality more effectively will also contribute to this goal.