Wary of his sagging popular support and economic turmoil ahead of elections next year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears ready to shower “election candies” on various segments of voters at the risk of wrecking public finances.

Turkey’s next presidential and parliamentary polls — in June 2023 at the latest — are looming as the toughest challenge yet to Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party, in power since November 2002, as popular grievances grow, fueled by an inflation topping 80% and its many social ramifications. 

In a pledge likely to become a centerpiece in his re-election campaign, Erdogan announced on Sept. 13 that the state-run housing agency TOKI would build half a million new homes for low-income families over five years, including 250,000 homes in the initial two-year phase. The investment value of the plan, involving also the construction of business offices, is about 900 billion Turkish liras ($49 billion), he said.

In a country where 42.5% of families are not homeowners, housing has grown into a grave problem for low-income groups amid a massive increase in prices and rents in the past couple of years. Erdogan’s housing project, based on subsidized prices and payments extended over 20 years, attracted about 3.5 million applications in less than a week, according to officials. Buoyed by the demand, Ankara is now considering a similar project for middle-income groups.