Ozan Bingöl's minimum wage and pension calculation: an estimate of 36,500 lira

Tax expert Dr. Ozan Bingöl estimated that the net minimum wage will be around 36,500 lira in 2027. According to what Ekonomim (Dünya) reported, Bingöl reached this figure by working from the tax exemption line in the new year's budget and said he expects an increase of around 30 percent in the minimum wage.

Speaking to journalist Deniz Zeyrek, Bingöl said he had examined the tax expenditures line in the budget, which covers exemptions, exceptions and reductions, and noted that an increase of around 33 percent is projected in the tax exemption for the minimum wage. Reasoning that about 3 percentage points of the 33 percent increase would come from people newly entering the workforce, Bingöl said: "Let that 3 percent be that, which means the increase in the minimum wage exemption is 30 percent." If a 30 percent raise is applied to the minimum wage, which was applied at a net 28,075 lira 50 kuruş in 2026, the amount reaches approximately 36,500 lira.

Saying that, based on budget possibilities and the welfare share options under discussion, the lowest pension could approach 30,000 lira, Bingöl stated that the lowest pension, currently 23,552 lira, falls short in the face of living conditions. Comparing it with the hunger threshold of 38,240 lira announced by Türk-İş, Bingöl said the lowest pension stands about 15,000 lira below the hunger threshold.

Bingöl said that in the increase pensioners will receive in January 2027, the raise rate calculated on second-half inflation is around 10 percent under the current outlook, and that he anticipates an additional welfare share arrangement of around 10 percent. He said that in such a calculation levels of 27,500-28,000 lira could come onto the agenda, and that with a more comprehensive arrangement the lowest pension could approach 30,000 lira.

Arguing that increases made only to the lowest pension do not solve the fundamental problems in the system, Bingöl said: "The causal link between the premium you pay and the pension you receive has been completely severed." Touching on the root salary practice as well, Bingöl said that something called a root salary had emerged, and used the words: "Even if you get a raise, you end up at the lowest pension." He said the number of people receiving the lowest pension therefore increases every passing year.

Noting that pensioners are forced to follow bank promotions and supermarket discounts in order to get by, Bingöl said: "An economic program has been in place for 3.5 years. The more we tighten our belts, the more we tighten. People have been made unable to shop." He also criticized the failure to grant a mid-year interim raise to the minimum wage and the erosion of pension increases against inflation.