Türkiye Boosts 2027 Arms Buying 229% in Budget Plan

Türkiye plans to raise its 2027 allocation for weapons, ammunition, weapons systems and other defence equipment by 229%, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz told Parliament’s Planning and Budget Commission on Wednesday. It’s among the sharpest single-year jumps in military procurement spending a major NATO-region economy has put on paper in years.

Total defence and security allocations would reach TL 3.45 trillion ($69.64 billion), including resources for the Defense Industry Support Fund. That equals 12.7% of the central government budget. Roughly one lira in eight.

The Spending Picture

The procurement surge sits within a budget framed around economic resilience. Yılmaz called the proposal a “budget of resilience, prosperity and transformation,” intended to strengthen the economy against external shocks. He didn’t specify which shocks the defence increase is meant to address, and the budget summary gave no breakdown of what the extra weapons and ammunition funding will buy.

The government projects 2027 spending at TL 27.2 trillion, against revenue of about TL 23.4 trillion. That’s a substantial gap. Revenue is expected to rise 37.5% from the previous year, while tax revenue is forecast to climb 36.5% to TL 19.9 trillion. Funding a defence build-up of this scale hinges on those gains materializing.

Inflation and the Fiscal Constraint

Yılmaz said price stability and stronger, sustainable macroeconomic balances were preconditions for lasting prosperity. He also described support for disinflation as one of the budget’s main pillars. The figures show the challenge. Annual inflation fell below 30% in September, and the government forecasts it will end 2026 at 28.4%. Its 2027 target for consumer price inflation is 21%.

That’s a wide gap to close while military procurement grows more than threefold. Defence orders and the disinflation campaign draw on the same finite resources.

Yılmaz said the economy had grown for 24 consecutive quarters, and that Türkiye’s growth of 5.2% exceeded the world average. The government forecasts growth of 4.2% in 2027 and 4.6% in 2028, rising to 5% by the end of the Medium-Term Program period. National income is expected to top $1.8 trillion in 2026, with income per person above $20,000. The government aims to surpass $2 trillion during the program period.

Jobs, Trade and the External Picture

The government aims to add an average of 711,000 jobs a year through 2029 and push unemployment into single digits. It forecasts unemployment at 8% in 2027, down from a projected 8.1% in 2026. Goods exports have a 2027 target of $292 billion, while the current account deficit is expected to equal 1.9% of national income, below its historical average.

Yılmaz acknowledged pressures abroad, saying global trade-volume growth was forecast to slow in 2028-2029. For an export-dependent economy, a cooling global market puts more pressure on the revenue assumptions behind the plan. The government also aims to expand housing supply through social-housing and rental social-housing projects.

Why This Matters: A 229% procurement increase signals Ankara is preparing for a more demanding security environment, even though officials didn’t say what’s driving it. For Türkiye’s neighbours and NATO partners, a military budget this large raises questions about intent, capability and how the hardware will be used. Regional states already dealing with Iranian proxy networks and unstable borders will watch closely. The fiscal risks are just as clear: the plan relies on inflation falling sharply and revenue rising above 37% as defence costs balloon. If either assumption slips, the government must choose between security ambitions and economic stability.