No Obstacles Remained in the Approval of the 2nd Stage of Adana Metro

Adana Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Zeydan Karalar met with journalists for breakfast at a hotel in the city. Speaking at the meeting, Karalar answered the questions of the journalists. Karalar stated that in Adana Metropolitan Municipality, where they came to the management with the burden of debt, they made them produce services with savings and financial discipline practices, and stated that there was no obstacle in front of the approval of the 2nd stage of the Adana Metro.

Expressing that they expect their 2023 budget to be 8 billion liras, Karalar said that they have taken over a municipality with a debt more than 4 times its income, and now they are a municipality with twice its debt.

Along with the debt problem, Adana's traffic problem was among the most discussed issues at the meeting. The need to build the second phase of the Adana Metro, which does not pass through the central parts of the city, has been expressed for many years. However, the project was not approved by the Presidency on the grounds that "borrowing criteria are not suitable". Expressing that the project was not approved on the grounds that the municipality was in debt, Karalar stated that thanks to the financial discipline and savings they implemented, they increased Adana's income and said, “There is no longer any reason for not approving the metro. Last year, with the re-evaluation, there was no reason for the metro not to be approved. We are more comfortable financially this year. There is no reason for the metro not to be approved. I hope it will be approved very soon. If there is a metro, the traffic will be easier," he said.

Karalar stated that if the metro project is approved, it will come to the fore to get loans, and stated that they received a BBB+ rating from an international rating agency due to the gradual improvement of the picture in the municipality despite the country risk. Expressing that this rating is much better than the country rating, Karalar said, “The debt over 800 million dollars is around 215 million dollars. You melted three quarters of it. Besides, the decrease of 4 billion debt you took 4,5 years ago to 4 billion this year is considered a decrease in real terms," ​​he said.