Increased personnel expenses due to currency rates: FM Çavuşoğlu

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that the surge in his ministry's costs was due to the fact that the salaries of the ministry's employees were denominated in foreign currencies. He added that the ministry's budget in 2018 exceeded its limit by 10 million TL due to Northern Cyprus and promotion of Turkey internationally.

Serkan Alan/ DUVAR

Responding to a parliamentary inquiry from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Ankara deputy Bülent Kuşoğlu regarding why Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs increased its personnel salary expenses while reducing its investment expenditures in 2018, Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu responded by saying that the surge in costs was due to the fact that the salaries of the ministry's employees were denominated in foreign currencies. 

“The personnel on duty in our ministry's foreign bureaus' salaries and social rights are determined in foreign currrency. In the fiscal year of 2018, the allocated expenses were insufficient. All of the above-mentioned expenditures consist of compulsory salary and social security premium payments in accordance with financial legislation,” Çavuşoğlu said. 

Çavuşoğlu said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' budget in 2018 exceeded its limit by 10 million TL, adding that the reasons for this was due to expenses resulting from Turkey being able to effectively administer its policies in Northern Cyprus, and for unforeseen expenses concerning activities promoting Turkey on an international level.