Fiscal autonomy of sub- central governments in turkey

Abstract

Local authorities that are the closest to citizens need to be financially strong to be able to present efficient and high-quality services. Also called fiscal autonomy, this financial strength helps municipalities to have own-revenues enough to meet their expenditures. When municipalities have sufficient own-revenues and have autonomy in planning and budgeting processes, the qualities of their services increase, and they can manage their resources more effectively and efficiently. Enhancing fiscal autonomy is a requirement of citizen-based management approach with high performance. Focusing on the importance of decentralization, this chapter presents the discussions on various definitions and measurements of fiscal autonomy, followed by a section on the state of fiscal autonomy in Turkey by analyzing the indicators of SCG tax revenue/total revenues, SCG own-revenues/total revenues, and transfers from the general budget tax revenues/total revenues. It finally offers some suggestions to enhance fiscal autonomy.