IMM President Ekrem İmamoğluannounced the 'Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Budget for 2022'. Sharing the information, "We have planned our total budget revenues as 2022 billion 35 million liras and our budget expenditures as 650 billion 43 million liras in 650," İmamoğlu said, "We allocate 42 percent of our budget to investments. In other words; We are exactly doubling our 2021 investment budget.” Emphasizing that approximately one fourth of the total investments of local governments in Turkey will be made by the İBB alone, İmamoğlu said, “Our total foreign loan debt is 4 billion 1 million Euros, of which approximately 2 billion Euros. inherited from the period before us. Euro, which was 544 TL on 2 June 23, has increased to 2019 TL as of today. In 6,6 years, the additional bill that the bad economy management put on the backs of Istanbulites due to exchange rate differences has unfortunately reached 14,52 billion 2,5 million liras. This figure is even more than the total investments that we, as IMM, will make in one year.” Saying, “My most important and primary project is an investment in the children of this city,” İmamoğlu said, “We will continue to be the hope for the young people, children, mothers and orphans of this city in the strongest way possible. I invite you to serve 20 million Istanbulites, not for political purposes. I hereby declare once again that; No matter how many obstacles are thrown in front of us, no matter how many strange inventions that do not comply with the seriousness of the state are brought before us every day; We will not give up, we will not give up. With greater determination, we will continue to work for 150 million. Don't let anyone get discouraged. No one should feel helpless and helpless. We are here and we stand by all the children of this city.”
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) President Ekrem İmamoğlu, presented the “Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Budget for 2022” at the IMM Assembly session. Before the presentation, İmamoğlu visited the CHP, IYI Party, AK Party and MHP groups. İmamoğlu, who made the opening speech of the meeting held at the Lütfi Kırdar International Convention and Exhibition Center in Harbiye, in the chair of the chairman, then came to the Assembly podium to present the 2022 Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Budget.
“POLITICS CANNOT BE MADE AGAINST THE PEOPLE”
Saying, "The main purpose of our coming to these public authorities is service," İmamoğlu wished the party groups in the IMM Assembly to work more in "goodwill and cooperation" in the coming year. Noting that everyone set out to serve 16 million people, albeit from different angles, İmamoğlu said, “I hoped and hoped to believe in you, each of you, and work together with you for the future of this city, without thinking from which party you were elected from the first day. I will continue to expect positive criticism, contribution and support from you on the way to improve the quality of life of 16 million people, and I will continue my calls to cooperate with you. I believe that the day will come and we will work hand in hand, heart to heart. I believe this wholeheartedly; because I know that politics cannot be done in spite of the people.”
“WE ALLOCATE 42 PERCENT OF OUR BUDGET TO INVESTMENTS”
İmamoğlu summarized the IMM's 2022 budget with the following information:
“We have planned our total budget revenues as 2022 billion 35 million liras and our budget expenditures as 650 billion 43 million liras in 650. In this way, in order to be able to provide the services we envision in 2022, we will need a financing of 8 billion liras. While we will cover approximately 4,4 billion liras of this deficit from Eurobonds that we issued in November 2020, we will finance 3,6 billion liras with borrowing. In 2022, we will pay a total of TL 2 billion in loans and TL 3,8 billion in foreign currency debt. We allocate 2022 billion 18 million liras from our 240 budget to investment, namely infrastructure and subway construction. We allocate 42 percent of our budget to investments. In other words; We are fully doubling our 2021 investment budget.”
“2022 INVESTMENT YEAR”
Emphasizing that they define the 2022 budget mainly as an investment budget, İmamoğlu pointed out that the reason for the relatively low investments in 2020 and 2021 is the aid they provide to citizens due to the Kovid-19 pandemic. Stating that they increased their social assistance to 2019 billion 2 million when they came to power in 108, İmamoğlu said, “With the onset of the pandemic, we increased our social assistance budget to 2020 billion 3 million liras in 139. We are increasing our aid budget, which will reach 3 billion 840 million at the end of this year, to 2022 billion 4 million in 98. In summary; We will use 9,4 percent of our expenses to support our citizens in need.”
“THIS IS IMPORTANT…”
Saying, “We will be making approximately one fourth of the total investments of local governments in Turkey, IMM alone will be doing it”, İmamoğlu shared the following figures regarding the domestic-foreign debts and the recent excessive increase in exchange rates:
“We regularly pay the domestic debts we inherited from the previous administrations and reduce our debt stock. Although our domestic debt, which was 4 billion 780 million liras when we took office, increased to 5 billion 509 million liras at the end of last year and due to the pandemic, as a result of the payments we made, it decreased to 2021 billion 3 million liras as of September 182. Our total foreign loan debt is 2 billion 544 million Euros, of which approximately 2 billion Euros was taken over from the previous period. This is important; Euro, which was 23 TL on 2019 June 6,6, has increased to 14,52 TL as of today. In 2,5 years, the additional bill that the bad economy management put on the backs of Istanbulites due to exchange rate differences has unfortunately reached 20 billion 150 million liras. This figure is even more than the total investments that we, as IMM, will make in one year.”
“THE SITUATION WE ARE LIVING IS A FULL CIRCUMSTANCE”
Making a detailed analysis of the exchange rate fluctuations caused by the wrong economic policies of the central government, İmamoğlu said, “As a result of these mistakes, half of every citizen's assets evaporated. In our country, per capita income fell below $5.000. Turkey fell out of the league of the first 20 countries, called the G20, in international competition. It has now regressed to the points where it will be difficult to enter the top 30. The minimum wage has fallen to the level of 200 dollars, which is the level of the poorest countries in the world. Illustrating the economic problems experienced by the citizens and the IMM as an institution, İmamoğlu said, “Supporting additional and urgent measures should be taken so that our people do not become victims. "The situation we live in is a gross incompetence that comes naturally as a result of squandering $128 billion in national reserves," he said.
“WE AIM TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF 16 MILLIONS”
Stating that the consolidated budget of IMM for 2022, including İSKİ and IETT, is 104 billion 578 million liras, İmamoğlu said, “43 billion 650 million liras of this budget belongs to IMM, 42 billion 864 million liras for subsidiaries, 10 billion 364 million liras for İSKİ and 7 billion liras. billion 700 million lira is the IETT budget”. “But we don't see the budget as just numbers. As we look at these numbers, we see our services,” said İmamoğlu. We; By saying 'Fair, Creative, Green Istanbul', we discussed the place we want to reach in the long term, with the social, cultural and environmental dimensions of our city. The subject of our 'Fair Istanbul' vision is people. For this reason, we categorize our budget according to the human subject for the first time. We categorize them as children's budget, youth budget, women's budget, social budget, culture, education and sports budget. Our goal is; Every Istanbulite is educated, healthy, confident in their future, confident in the future of their children, free and happy.
“I HOPE WE WILL COMPETE IN THE SERVICE THAN BEING BLOCKED”
Saying "My most important and primary project is this city's investment in children," İmamoğlu detailed their work in this context. Emphasizing that they aim to increase the number of kindergartens opened in 2022, İmamoğlu said, “Our children from low-income social groups will primarily benefit from our kindergartens. In our kindergartens, which is a very important area for future generations, we provide our children with the best possible opportunities and work hard to provide the highest quality education. In these kindergartens, the potential of our children, who are free, creative, capable of critical thinking, and have gained cognitive, social and emotional skills, is revealed to the maximum extent. We have been hearing the words of government circles to build 100 kindergartens in Istanbul recently. 25 years later, and even if they took our example, we welcome their decision. I hope they continue down this road. And I hope, instead of being hindered, we can race in service to the children of this nation. In this respect, the amount of budget we allocate is less,” he said.
“THIS CITY IS SO STRONG NOT TO LEAVE ITS YOUTH IN THE HANDS OF SOME BUILDINGS”
Pointing out that they have increased the 566 budget of 2021 million liras for children to 2022 million liras by 708, İmamoğlu explained the "to-do list" pencil by pen. İmamoğlu also exemplifies the projects and works for the youth, especially the education support and the dormitory problem, and said, “In 2021, our total budget for our services for our youth was 1 billion 38 million liras. We increase this amount by 2022 percent in our 30 budget, to 1 billion 353 million liras. In other words; We will support our youth with a budget of 4 million liras per day. Because we know that; Every investment we make in the education of our youth is the most valuable investment in the peace, future and development of our city, just like the investment we make in our children. It is the most valuable investment, both as a person, socially and economically. Our investment in the education of our youth is an investment in the race of civilizations of our city and country. This city is too strong to leave its young people in the hands of some institutions and organizations with uncertain aims, some structures that do not have public control," he said.
“WE ARE WORKING FOR 16 MILLION”
Pointing out that the power of a city is measured by the qualified workforce of that city, İmamoğlu underlined that Turkey is the country with the third largest workforce potential in Europe with 33 million. “However, what has been done to provide our workforce with the competencies required by the digital age is quite insufficient,” said İmamoğlu, and shared striking figures on the subject. Stating that “the job opportunities for young people who do not receive adequate education and those with relatively low professional qualifications will be narrowed day by day”, İmamoğlu said, “While we are dreaming and planning the future of Istanbul, we think very broadly to include these segments as well; We are working for 16 million,” he said. Emphasizing that they have started to offer vocational training and lifelong learning programs that take into account real needs through the Regional Employment Offices and Institute Istanbul İSMEK channels, İmamoğlu said, “In this respect, we allocated a budget of 2022 million TL for the Institute Istanbul İSMEK in 360. Likewise, with our Regional Employment Offices, we increase the resources we allocate to 35 million liras in order to contribute to the employment of Istanbul residents. Because we know that; We are far behind compared to OECD countries in terms of employment of women, youth and disadvantaged groups.
“GIRLS ARE VICTIMS OF INEQUALITY OPPORTUNITIES IN EDUCATION”
Emphasizing that one of the most important elements of “Fair Istanbul” goals is to ensure gender equality, İmamoğlu said:
“Today, unfortunately, many types of inequality, of which women are the subject, are intertwined, often feeding each other. While girls are victims of inequality of opportunity in education; women do not participate equally in the workforce. Violence against women, a crime against humanity, continues to increase. The representation rate of women in social life and politics never rises to the right levels.
Our main goal is to remove the obstacles that prevent our women from reaching the education they deserve, the job they deserve, the income they deserve, the freedom they deserve and the welfare they deserve. For this, we were able to allocate 2020 million liras for services and projects for women in 190. In 2022, we are multiplying this amount to 451 million liras.”
“WE CARRY ALL OUR SERVICES FAIRLY”
Noting that "Fair Istanbul" also means Istanbul that shares fairly, İmamoğlu said, "We offer all of our financial and social opportunities fairly, in order to create a city where they can live equally and freely, without any discrimination. We carry out all our services fairly, without leaving any of our fellow citizens behind in the development and development process of our city. We provide our services and social assistance with the principle of social inclusion, and we do not exclude any segment. We have seen how valuable this is, especially during the pandemic process," he said. Reminding that 2,5 years of their 2-year term of office passed under pandemic conditions, İmamoğlu pointed out that there are very important lessons learned in this process. Saying, "Unpredictable and long-term crises such as the pandemic have proven how vital social solidarity and cooperation can be," İmamoğlu shared numerical information about the process.
“DO NOT BE A spectator to the suffering of the citizens”
Pointing out that the central government was not with the people during the pandemic process and did not take any action to protect the poor, the unemployed and the needy, İmamoğlu said, “As if the low-income segments were not paying taxes in this country, they could not produce or implement any serious policy that would prevent these segments from 'from poverty to hunger'. . His inability to manage the pandemic crisis has damaged our faith in our state. But what actually happened was a 'crisis of governance' resulting from the destruction of the institutional capacity of the state by the power components. In this whole process, as IMM, we acted with the seriousness and responsibility of being a state. We have multiplied our social aid budget as we multiplied, in order to stand by the Istanbulites with all our might. We did this despite the government's obstacles; We will continue to do so,” he said. Emphasizing the importance of closing the social damage caused by the pandemic before it escalates, İmamoğlu said, “Don't be a spectator to millions of citizens suffering helplessly under the economy you can't manage and the exchange rates you can't manage. You; I invite you to prevent the growth of this wreckage by making realistic, all understandable moves of the economy. Leave the resources to us; Let us, as local governments, be a cure for the problems of our citizens in our own cities”.
"UNLESS THE WORLD IS MORE FAIR, IT WILL NOT BE GREEN"
"Be sure; As long as the world is not more fair, it will not be greener or more creative," said İmamoğlu, and drew attention to environmental problems and the world's global climate change agenda. Stating that the world is at the starting point of a long transformation journey, İmamoğlu said, “During this journey; In order to transition to a 'carbon-neutral world and economy' model from industry to agriculture, from transportation to energy, it is necessary to reconfigure all processes of production, services and trade, and to take sustainability actions. Reminding that as IMM, they have presented their "Climate Change" vision as "Green Solution" to 16 million, İmamoğlu said, "I can proudly say; On the way to 2050, Istanbul is the first and only city in our country that has announced the 'carbon neutral' target and prepared action plans for this; is our management. This goal is not a pragmatic goal for us, it is a permanent city constitution goal. From now on, when we look at each new project we will implement in our municipality, we will see if that project fits the 'Green Solution' objectives. We'll see if it supports our city's carbon neutral goals. If it doesn't fit, we will change that project from scratch," he said.
“ENVIRONMENTAL SUBJECT IS A LIFE MATTER”
Reminding that there were fires in the Mediterranean, floods in the Black Sea, and that 82 of our citizens lost their lives in the disasters in the summer, İmamoğlu said, “Scientific studies reveal that climate change and environmental problems are definitely the result of human activities. The mucilage, forest fires and flood disasters we have experienced in the last year are also the result of the actions and mentality of the last years. The environmental issue is not just an intellectual and fashionable sensibility issue; It is literally a matter of life and death. The environmental issue is not a policy issue; it's a matter of survival. At the very least, we expect all of you to put aside the political prowess, quarrel and conflict and to embrace the issue together. We owe this to future generations.”
“METRO PROJECTS ARE VITAL FOR THE FUTURE OF THE CITY”
Stating that they allocated 2022 billion 2 million liras to the environment in the 181 budget, İmamoğlu said:
“In this context, I would like to mention our transportation and metro budget. Today, the largest item in the 2022 budget is our transportation, metro and environment budget with a share of 32 percent. Including IETT, its total amount is 16 billion 845 million liras. In this respect, another point of pride, as well as being the city that has built the most metro lines in the world at the same time, is to allocate the biggest budget share to the metro, which is the most environmentally friendly transportation route. Metro projects are the most important and vital project for the future of the city in order to solve the traffic problem that has turned into gangrene in this city in 25 years. Metro projects are a quality of life, civilization, mobility, environment and development project for us.”
EARTHQUAKE LARGEST BUDGET OF ALL TIME
Emphasizing the fact of Istanbul's earthquake in his presentation, İmamoğlu said, “We allocated a total of 2022 billion 1 million liras for the earthquake budget in 945, which will be the largest budget of all time. 931 million lira of this is reserved for building reinforcement and urban transformation. In this context, repeating the proposal to establish an “Earthquake Council” with the participation of all stakeholders, İmamoğlu said, “Earthquake issue; It should be handled with an objective and scientific approach, under a supra-institutional, non-partisan, supra-political roof, and all interested parties should work shoulder to shoulder. We presented our work on this subject to our Minister and his technical team; On this occasion, I would like to remind you once again that we expect an answer and an action from them regarding this project.”
“WE RELY ON THE HUMAN RESOURCES OF THE CITY”
Emphasizing that they rely on the city's human resources to improve the city's development and quality of life, İmamoğlu said, "The fastest way to increase the quality of life in this city is to give priority to works and projects that will achieve our 'Creative Istanbul' vision. In this city, it is all about enabling and moderating talented people to showcase their talents. Our city's getting to the forefront of global competition depends on technology and innovation. We aimed to offer a liberal, pluralistic and inclusive social and cultural life to our citizens by improving the technology and innovation capacity of our city. In 2022, we allocated a total of 524 billion 396 million liras, including 452 million liras for the cultural budget of our municipality, 1 million liras for the education budget and 372 million liras for the sports budget.
“WE HAVE CREATED TURKEY'S LARGEST COMPREHENSIVE 'PARTICIPANT BUDGET MODEL'”
Emphasizing that they achieved a first this year and implemented the “participatory budget” practice, İmamoğlu said:
“As IMM; We have created Turkey's most comprehensive 'Participatory Budget Model' in order to provide people-oriented, fair and common sense-based municipal services for 16 million people, to strengthen local democracy, and to ensure a transparent and participatory management approach. 4.873 project proposals, each more valuable than the other, coming directly from Istanbul residents, were evaluated technically and legally. 191 projects carefully selected among them were put to the vote of Istanbulites. During the voting process, 147.837 votes were cast. Thus, residents of Istanbul chose 28 projects that they considered important for Istanbul and wanted to be implemented. We included all the projects that received the highest rate of votes and remained within the determined budget limit in our 2022 budget. For these projects, we allocated 2022 million TL in the 155,8 budget. We will implement all of them rapidly as of 2022.”
“IF THE ECONOMY IS MANAGED THAT WAY, WE MAY HAVE TO REVIEW OUR BUDGET SHORTLY”
Emphasizing that they have brought equal value to the city and the IMM in their 30 months in office, İmamoğlu said, “We have transformed the institutional structure of our municipality. We have created a libertarian, egalitarian, pluralistic and inclusive working environment. We have created a multidimensional, very dynamic corporate identity in terms of social and cultural aspects. We illuminate this institutional structure with the principles of transparency and accountability; We see ahead in the light of these principles. Thanks to these principles, we are confident in what we do and in ourselves. We have prepared the 2022 budget, which we present to you here today, in the light of these principles. But if this is how the economy is run and exchange rates continue to rise, we may have to revise our budget soon. I hope we don't have to do that," he said.
“WE WILL ALWAYS TAKE THE PUBLIC BENEFIT AS THE BASIS IN OUR INVESTMENT DECISIONS”
Saying, “We promise that we use and will use the public resources entrusted to us under all circumstances, only and only in line with the public interest, in accordance with the principles of financial discipline and merit,” said İmamoğlu, adding, “In 2022, with all the means at our disposal, we will provide every opportunity to Istanbul and its residents. we will continue to produce more rational, faster and higher standard service day by day. We will always base our investment decisions on public benefit, and we will never allow non-economic and unsaving expenditures. We will continue to work with all our strength and stand by them to solve the problems of our citizens in the middle and lower income groups, who are oppressed in the economic crisis that made Turkey experience the most difficult period in the history of the Republic, and in the ongoing pandemic conditions. As a reflection of the participatory, people-oriented, collective mind-based new generation municipality approach, we will continue to spend on transportation, such as discounted or free transportation, especially for low-income people, students, mothers with children and healthcare workers. We will continue to pay our debts despite the obstacles our parliament has put in front of us regarding our financial needs, and to continue our investments and services with greater ambition despite the huge debt hump imposed on IMM's back caused by the poorly managed economy management," he said.
“WE WILL CONTINUE TO BE HOPE”
Saying, “We will continue to show this ancient city and saintly nation that they are not unclaimed,” İmaoğlu concluded his words as follows:
“We will continue to be hope for the youth, children, mothers and orphans of this city. I invite you to serve 16 million Istanbulites, not for political purposes. I hereby declare once again that; No matter how many obstacles are thrown in front of us, no matter how many strange inventions that do not comply with the seriousness of the state are brought before us every day; We will not give up, we will not give up. We will continue to work for 16 million with greater determination. Don't let anyone get discouraged. No one should feel helpless and helpless. We are here and we stand by all the children of this city.”
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