Treasury and Finance Minister Şimşek said that studies were being carried out, but: There are no figures...

Minister Şimşek answered the questions of the MPs about the budget discussions of his ministry at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Planning and Budget Commission the other day. Stating that the technical work on retirees has not been completed yet, Şimşek said, "First of all, the regulation will cover all our retirees; this is the first issue. Secondly, we think it would be right to differentiate the increase according to the age and number of premium payment days of our retirees, because this would be a more fair approach."

Stating that this issue will be taken into account even if there is a linear increase, Şimşek said, "Therefore, it is not the same for everyone, but efforts are being made to make a differentiation, even if linearly, according to age and premium paid."

HE DID NOT SAY THE NUMBER

Stating that it would not be appropriate to state a figure, Şimşek said, "There may also be a precautionary aspect to the matter. In other words, an increase in transfers to SSI has already attracted your attention, but I think the final work will most likely be done within the interval and will most likely be brought to your discretion immediately after the budget." It was noteworthy that, upon the questions of the MPs, Şimşek said, "It would not be right for me to enter the figure because it may be a precautionary measure and that size may change accordingly."

TRANSFERS TO SSI

The transfers to SSI, which Şimşek drew attention to in his speech, were discussed in public a while ago. Increasing the total budget transfers to SSI from 2.1 trillion lira to 3.4 trillion lira in the 2027 Budget created the public expectation that retirees would receive a high percentage raise next year. Comments were made that the 66 percent increase would be reflected as a linear raise for retirees. However, as stated in the footnote in the budget proposal, this budget transfer also includes "invoiced payments, additional provisions, state contribution, additional payments to retirees, transfers arising from premium incentives and GSS premiums of those who cannot afford to pay premiums."

In other words, this amount represents the total transfers that include many items. On the other hand, when we look at the distribution of budget appropriations according to programs, the share of social security increases from 1.8 trillion lira to 2.8 trillion lira. Experts say that according to these figures, there may be an increase in pensions, but this increase "will not be a large increase" as expected by the public.