Turkey secures $4 billion in international funding for quake recovery

Duvar English

Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek on Aug. 31 announced that the ministry continued to secure low-cost financing from international institutions to reconstruct the region affected by the Maraş-centered earthquakes of Feb. 6. 

Şimşek stated that the Finance Ministry has secured approximately four billion dollars in external resources for earthquake financing in 2023 and 2024, and negotiations were ongoing to secure an additional two billion by the end of this year. 

“Our efforts to obtain favorable external resources from financial institutions for the development of both the earthquake-affected region and our country will continue,” the minister said. 

Recently, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank granted approximately 187 million euros in long-term financing at below-market interest rates to Turkey’s General Directorate of Highways to fund the repair and improvement of roads, tunnels, and bridges damaged by the earthquake.

Şimşek also noted ongoing efforts to secure 100 million dollars from the Islamic Development Bank for Turkish Eximbank to support the financing of exporters in the earthquake zone and their green transformations. Another 100 million dollars was secured from the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation for Türkiye Development and Investment Bank to support international trade for businesses affected by the earthquake, and 50 million dollars was provided to Türkiye Industrial Development Bank.

Şimşek stressed that cooperation with international financial institutions would continue, stating, "These resources are a sign of confidence in the program we are implementing."

On the first anniversary of the earthquakes, the European Commission signed a 400 million euro (430 million dollar) aid agreement to support Turkey’s recovery.

A recent report by the Public Expenditure Monitoring Platform (KAHİP) analyzed the distribution of disaster budgets within Turkey's metropolitan municipalities.

The report found that local governments prioritized spending on disaster response measures while allocating insufficient resources to risk reduction, and noted that collaboration between central and local governments was necessary for urban transformation. 

Now over 1,5 years after the quakes, infrastructure remains insufficient for the survivors some of whom still live in temporary living units and experience drinking water shortages, limited access to healthcare and education, and frequent flooding in the winter months.

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