Total quake-related spending to reach 1 trillion Turkish Liras: VP Yılmaz

GAZİANTEP

Total earthquake-related spending this year will amount to 1 trillion Turkish Liras ($37 billion), Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz has said.

Earthquake-related spending from the central government budget will be around 762 billion liras, Yılmaz told reporters during his visit to the southeastern province of Gaziantep at the weekend.

“On top of that, there will be other spending, such as allocations to local governments, the employment agency İşkur and the social security agency SGK. We calculate that the overall spending will be around 1 trillion liras this year,” Yılmaz said.

The first estimates put the earthquake damage at $104 billion, the Vice President noted.

“This was a cautious estimate. We are indeed facing significant costs.”

The February earthquakes directly impacted 11 provinces and more than 14 million people, Yılmaz recalled.

This was an unprecedented disaster, which resulted in costs that are even too big for most developed nations, the Vice President said.

The government is not only building new homes, but also investing in the infrastructure in the earthquake-affected provinces, Yılmaz added.

The on-site transformation projects, under which grants and credit support are provided to those who choose to rebuild their structures in the quake-hit regions, will support local economies, according to the Vice President.

The twin earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 on Feb. 6 shook 11 southern provinces, claiming the lives of more than 50,000 people and leaving many homeless. Tens of thousands of businesses were also damaged.