In the four weeks since President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an unveiled what he called “the biggest social housing project in the history of the Turkish republic”, more than 7mn people have flocked to sign up. Work on the first of the promised 500,000-strong raft of new homes is set to begin later this month, with the first foundations put in place just as Erdo?an begins gearing up for critical elections. 

Analysts and Turkish opposition officials see the $50bn state-subsidised project — aimed at helping low-income families get on the housing ladder — as one of the opening salvos of a huge spending campaign in the run-up to the vote, which is set to be the toughest contest faced by Erdo?an during his almost 20 years in power.

Government spending plans outlined last month show that, while the Treasury ran a roughly balanced budget for the first nine months of 2022, it plans to end the year with a deficit of about TL460bn ($25bn) — a figure akin to about 3 per cent of gross domestic product. That points to a huge spending spree.