Erdoğan’s presidential palace spends 81 minimum wage per hour

Turkish President Erdoğan’s palace has spent 81 minimum wage per hour in the first five months of 2024. The palace's expenditures reached 4.98 billion liras ($151.7M) in the January-May period.

Saturday June 22 2024 12:38 pm

Duvar English

The expenditures of Turkey's presidential palace reached 4.984 billion Turkish liras ($151.7M) during the January-May period, marking a 227% increase compared to the same period last year. In the first five months of 2023, expenditures amounted to 1.523 billion liras ($64.15M, based on the average exchange rate of 2023).

The average monthly expenditure of the presidential palace occupied by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during the same period was 996.9 million liras. This translated to a daily expenditure of approximately 33.2 million liras, with the hourly expenditure amounting to 1.385 million liras.

In other words, the palace's expenditure reached 81 minimum wages (17,002 liras) per hour, according to the reporting of daily BirGün.

Last month, the government announced sweeping "savings measures" to tackle the economic crisis and cut some rights of civil servants in particular. At the same time, it announced that the minimum wage would not be increased for 2024 despite rising inflation.

Last year, the palace's expenditures per hour amounted to 50 minimum wages in January-May 2023.

The total budget allocation for the palace in 2024 was set at 12.283 billion liras. However, due to funds carried over or transferred from previous years, the total budget has risen to 15.953 billion liras.