Attending the Second Local Administrations Financial Management Forum in Ankara, Babacan drew attention to the heavy debt burden on municipalities and noted that they need to get rid of their old financial habits. In order to enable efficient auditing of municipal financial performance, the ministry will introduce a new system under which the financial records of municipalities will be disclosed, Babacan said.
Delivering the opening speech at the forum, Interior Minister Beşir Atalay said that while the revenue of local administrations totaled TL 39 billion in 2008, spending amounted to TL 46 billion, causing a deficit of TL 7 billion. The minister said he has observed a rise in the budget deficits of local administrations and that to overcome this problem the ministry is working on several projects. The government is attaching more importance to municipalities than in the past, Atalay said, adding that funds allocated to municipalities had been increased from TL 4.7 billion in 2002 to TL 15.8 billion in 2008.
