Turkish Presidency's medical spending increased 10-fold during pandemic

Nergis Demirkaya / DUVAR

The Turkish Presidency's medical spending increased 10-fold during the COVID-19 pandemic, while its total spending added up to 2.9 billion Turkish Liras, a recent audit by the Court of Accounts revealed. 

One of the highest items on the presidential budget, medical and laboratory equipment surpassed 51 million Turkish Liras in 2020, while the same item was a mere five million in 2019. 

Spending on cleaning equipment increased to 6.9 million liras from 4.1 million between 2019 and 2020, while food spending decreased from 114,000 to 107,000 liras. 

Spending on live animals increased three-fold between 2019 and 2020, spiking from 6,000 to 18,000 liras. 

Advertisement spending decreased during the pandemic, dipping from 50 million liras to 32 million liras, while food spending increased from three million to 5.4 million liras. 

Agricultural spending spiked from 771,000 liras to nine million liras during the pandemic, while maintenance costs tripled for a total of 32 million liras. 

Broadcasting costs also increased from 31,000 liras to 206,000 liras. 

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