Bridge, highway tolls increased

ANKARA

The tolls for highways and bridges have been increased, the General Directorate of Highways (KGM) has announced.

According to the new tariffs, which took effect as of Oct. 25, the one-way toll for passenger cars for the 15 July Martyrs Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge over Istanbul’s Bosporus has been hiked by 76.5 percent from a previous 8.5 Turkish Liras to 15 liras ($0.53).

In line with the increase in the value-added tax from 18 percent to 20 percent in July, the toll for those two bridges was increased from 8.25 liras to 8.5 liras.

Tolls for the Osmangazi Bridge were hiked from 190 liras to 290 liras, while the increase for the Çanakkale Bridge was 47.5 percent to 295 liras.

Meanwhile, parliament’s planning and budget commission will start discussions on the government’s 2024 budget tomorrow.

In the 2024 budget, Türkiye is projected to grow by 4 percent, the year-end consumer price index (TÜFE) will be 33 percent, exports will reach $267 billion, and imports will reach $372.8 billion.

Budget expenditures, excluding state aid and shares allocated from revenues, are set at 11.9 trillion Liras, while the budget deficit is estimated at 2.6 trillion liras.

Revenues are expected to be around 8.44 trillion liras, with tax revenues forecast to grow by 72.8 percent, rising from this year’s 4.8 trillion liras to 8.3 trillion liras in 2024.

Speaking at the planning and budget commission on Oct. 14, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said the government does not plan to increase the retirement age.

Some 2 million people benefited from the early retirement scheme, known as EYT, Yılmaz told lawmakers, adding that this number may increase to 5 million.

The impact of the YET scheme on the social security system will become clearer in the coming months, Yılmaz said.