Interest expenses and privatization debate in economic policies
Yeni Party Deputy Özgür Karabat announced that the 2026 budget deficit and interest payments have reached trillions, and he spoke out against bridge sales.
Yeni Party Istanbul Deputy Özgür Karabat stated that the budget deficit and interest expenditures in the first seven months of 2026 reached trillions of liras, reacting to the increasing debt burden and decisions regarding the privatization of bridges and highways.
Budget Deficit and Interest Expenses
Yeni Party Istanbul Deputy Özgür Karabat made evaluations regarding economic policies on social media and shared current financial data.
According to the statements made, the central government's interest expenditures reached approximately 1.79 trillion liras in the first seven months of 2026.
July Payments
The magnitude of the interest payments belonging solely to the month of July within the announced budget data was also shared with the public.
Accordingly, the single-month interest payment in July alone occurred at the level of 326.8 billion Turkish liras.
Debtors Falling Under Legal Follow-up
Situations where citizens fell under legal follow-up due to individual loans and credit card debts were revealed with data.
While the number of people who entered legal follow-up due to their debts in June was 297 thousand, this number rose to 1 million 117 thousand in the first six months of the year.
Bridge and Highway Privatizations
The privatization process of the 15 July Martyrs Bridge, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, and connected highways was criticized.
Özgür Karabat reacted to the privatization attempts of the infrastructure projects in question, describing the situation as a sale.