It is possible to see how the gap between the efficiency of government spending and the social security system has widened.
Public expenditures in Turkey “waste” (inefficient investments, high-cost public-private partnership projects, luxury consumption and tax amnesties) and the pension burden, we can analyze the picture under the following headings:
1-Size of the Social Security System:
There are approximately 16 million pensioners in Turkey. According to 2024 and 2025 projections, the total annual cost of pension payments amounts to approximately %6-7 of GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
2- Basic Losses Defined as “Waste”:
The annual loss items that we economists and audit reports often point to are the following;
🔺Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Guarantee Payments:
Treasury guarantees for bridges, highways and city hospitals reach billions of dollars annually.
🔺Currency Protected Deposit (CDD):
The total cost to the Central Bank and the Treasury is enough to cover a year's worth of pension increases many times over.
🔺Tax Expenditures (Exemptions and Exemptions): Tax amnesties and waived taxes granted to large capital groups create a huge hole in the budget.
🔺Corruption and the Informal Economy:
Non-transparent procurement processes and inefficient use of resources.
3- Proportional Comparison:
Yapılan bağımsız iktisadi araştırmalar (örneğin; vergi afları, lüks kamu harcamaları ve KÖİ projelerindeki aşırı maliyet artışları toplandığında), bu toplamın yaklaşık %30 ile %40’ı arasındaki bir tasarrufun, mevcut emekli maaşlarının tamamını karşılayabileceğini veya en düşük emekli maaşını refah seviyesine çekebileceğini göstermektedir.
In more striking terms:
Türkiye’de sadece vazgeçilen vergi gelirlerinin (vergi afları ve istisnaları) yarısı bile, tüm emekli maaşlarının yıllık finansman yükünün önemli bir kısmını (yaklaşık %40-50’sini) tek başına karşılayabilir.
“Techno-feudalism” and “Production Manifesto” The hegemony of capital over the state, which I have pointed out in my texts, leads to the transfer of resources to rent and financial instruments rather than to production and labor. The economic bottleneck faced by pensioners is actually a problem of choice and distribution rather than a lack of resources.