2027-2029 Budget Preparation Process Begins in Türkiye
The framework for preparing Türkiye’s 2027-2029 central government budget has been announced through a communiqué signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and published in the Official Gazette. The document establishes the main principles that public institutions must follow when preparing their budget proposals for the next three-year period.
The new roadmap places particular emphasis on efficient use of public resources, maintaining fiscal discipline and continuing savings measures. Ministries and public administrations will be expected to plan their expenditures carefully, prioritize essential services and avoid spending that does not provide measurable economic or social benefit.
Medium-Term Program Sets the Main Priorities
The communiqué states that the Medium-Term Program covering 2027-2029 will guide preparations for the Central Government Budget. This program defines the broad framework for economic and fiscal policies and serves as the basis for determining expenditure priorities, revenue expectations and investment plans.
The program is designed to support the objectives set out in the Second Development Plan for 2024-2028. Among the central goals are strengthening macroeconomic and financial stability, preserving fiscal discipline and contributing to price stability and a fairer distribution of income.
The authorities also aim to secure sustainable and inclusive economic growth. To achieve this, the program highlights productivity improvements, stronger research and development capabilities, expanded human capital, and faster progress in green and digital transformation.
Additional priorities include improving labor-market efficiency, strengthening the investment environment and reducing the informal economy. These policies are intended to increase competitiveness while supporting more balanced and durable growth.
Fiscal Discipline and Spending Efficiency
The communiqué identifies the protection of fiscal discipline and the long-term sustainability of public finances as key objectives. Fiscal and monetary policies are expected to be implemented in coordination to support macroeconomic rebalancing and reduce economic vulnerabilities.
Greater efficiency in public expenditure will also be pursued. Institutions will be required to review their spending habits, eliminate unnecessary costs and ensure that available funds are directed toward clearly defined priorities.
Tax policy is another important element of the framework. The government plans to improve fairness and effectiveness in taxation while strengthening efforts to combat tax evasion and the informal economy. More effective auditing and monitoring mechanisms are expected to play a significant role in this process.
Savings Measures to Continue
Public administrations will be expected to use the appropriations assigned to them economically, effectively and efficiently, without exceeding their budget limits. The document underlines that spending controls and monitoring procedures related to public-sector savings will continue.
A systematic review of expenditures will be carried out to identify areas where resources are being used inefficiently. Unproductive or unnecessary spending is expected to be reduced, while budget allocations will increasingly be linked to performance and measurable outcomes.
The approach is not limited to cutting expenditure. It also seeks to ensure that each unit of public funding produces the greatest possible social and economic return. Institutions will therefore need to justify their budget requests with stronger analyses and clearer targets.
Public Investments to Be Prioritized
Public investment planning will focus on projects capable of generating substantial economic and social benefits. Expenditure increases for investment projects will be assessed carefully, and priority will be given to initiatives that contribute to productivity, employment, regional development and long-term economic capacity.
Investment decisions are expected to be based on needs assessments, cost-benefit analyses and the principles of budget discipline. Projects that lack sufficient feasibility, duplicate existing services or do not provide a convincing public benefit may face closer scrutiny.
The new framework also encourages the completion of ongoing and economically viable projects before launching new ones. This approach is intended to prevent limited public resources from being spread across too many unfinished investments.
Restrictions on Permanent Expenditure
The communiqué warns against creating permanent spending commitments in response to temporary or cyclical revenues. Income generated by short-term economic conditions must not be used to finance expenditures that will continue indefinitely.
This principle is designed to reduce pressure on future budgets and protect public finances against sudden revenue declines. Permanent programs and long-term commitments will need to be supported by stable and predictable sources of income.
Such a policy can help improve the credibility of fiscal planning and make medium-term budget projections more reliable. It also limits the risk that temporary budget surpluses will lead to uncontrolled expansion of structural expenditure.
More Careful Vehicle Purchases
Public institutions will be expected to adopt a restrictive approach to purchasing new vehicles. New acquisitions will be limited to cases where there is a genuine operational need or where existing vehicles have reached the end of their economic life.
When vehicle purchases are considered necessary, institutions will be required to prioritize economical and environmentally friendly alternatives. This measure is intended to reduce both acquisition costs and ongoing expenses such as fuel, maintenance and insurance.
The same principle may encourage public bodies to use shared vehicle pools and improve fleet management. Better planning could reduce idle capacity and prevent separate units from purchasing vehicles for similar purposes.
Preparation of Three-Year Budget Proposals
Central government institutions will prepare their proposals for 2027, 2028 and 2029 in line with the Medium-Term Program, the Budget Call and the Budget Preparation Guide. They will also rely on the Investment Circular and the Investment Program Preparation Guide.
These documents will define the macroeconomic assumptions, policy priorities, expenditure ceilings, general principles and technical standards to be applied during the preparation process. The use of multi-year budgeting will allow institutions to assess their needs over a longer horizon rather than focusing only on annual spending.
The three-year structure is expected to improve predictability for public institutions and strengthen coordination between current spending and investment programs. It may also make it easier to identify commitments that could place pressure on future budgets.
The communiqué includes the 2027-2029 Budget Preparation Guide as an annex. This guide provides the detailed procedures and standards that public administrations must follow when preparing and submitting their budget requests.
Overall, the new budget roadmap signals a continuation of expenditure controls, fiscal responsibility and selective investment policies. The main challenge will be to maintain necessary public services and support economic growth while ensuring that limited public resources are used transparently, efficiently and in line with long-term national priorities.