January–March Cost-of-Living Allowance to be Paid in Late April — TRNC Finance Minister

TRNC Finance Minister Özdemir Berova stated on BRT television on March 19, 2026, that cost-of-living adjustments for January, February, and March will be reflected in employee payments at the end of April in Northern Cyprus.

According to Berova, the Ministry of Finance temporarily waived the 10% VAT on fuel excise duties for one week, resulting in the state forgoing approximately 40 million lira in revenue. The decision was made to curb sharp price spikes amid regional military actions and rapid global oil price fluctuations. The Minister noted that without intervention, diesel (fuel oil) would have increased by about 35 lira, but the government managed to limit the rise to about 10 lira; otherwise, the expected additional increase could have reached around 12 lira.

Berova also shared budget parameters: the projected net deficit is 25.5 billion lira, current debt load is about 3 billion lira, and average monthly salary payments are approximately 5.7 billion lira. Revenue decrease is expected to be around 1.5 billion lira compared to the February forecast of 9.5 billion lira. He estimated that introducing compensations for the first three months will create an additional burden of about 400 million lira on public finances, while a savings package is expected to provide around 3 billion lira in savings by year-end. Berova emphasized that the next allowance recalculation is planned in nine months to ensure predictability for businesses and citizens.