Turkey’s religious directorate spends 97 percent of 4.37-billion lira budget in seven months

ISTANBUL

The Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) spent 97 percent of its 4.37-billion Turkish Lira annual budget in the first seven months of the year, according to Finance Ministry figures, daily Sözcü reported on Sept. 4.

According to the data, the Diyanet spent 4.24 billion liras of its annual budget from January to July.

The Diyanet’s performance program in 2017 revealed that there are currently 117,378 personnel at work in the institution, 115,218 of whom are on duty as muftis across Turkey. 

The Diyanet was followed by the EU Affairs Ministry in terms of proportional budget spend, also consuming 97 percent - or 566 million liras - of its annual budget.

The Labor and Social Security Ministry was third on the list, consuming 81 percent of its annual budget in the first seven months of the year.