Turkey announces ambitious defence spending increase in draft economic plan

The Turkish Presidency of Strategy and Budget released the draft medium-term economic programme (MTEP) for the country, covering proposed expenditure for the 2022–24 period, on 6 September.

According to the proposal documents published in the Turkish Official Gazette, spending for the country's Ministry of National Defence (MND) will rise to TRY80.439 billion (USD9.69 billion) in 2022, up from the proposed TRY65.893 billion for the year proposed in the 2021–23 MTEP. Overall, MND spending will account for 5.05% of government expenditure under the new proposals.

Increases in funding allocations through Turkey's MTEPs have been increasingly ambitious in recent years. (Turkish Presidency of Strategy and Budget/Janes)

Funding is proposed to surge 14.39% in nominal terms in 2023 to TRY92.018 billion, before increasing by a further 10.12% to TRY101.333 billion in 2024. MND funding in 2023 and 2024 will represent 5.12% and 5.13% of government expenditure respectively. Personnel costs are planned to remain the largest portion of spending for the MND, accounting for 55.8% in 2022, before rising to 57.34% in 2023 and 58.01% in 2024.