Ottoman Public Debt Administration

Also, it was an intermediary with European companies seeking investment opportunities in the Ottoman Empire.

The financial and commercial privileges of the non-Muslim foreigners were protected with the capitulations of the Ottoman Empire.

Non-region specific taxes were also provided, notably on shops and stores, and customs duties.

Should those sources of income prove insufficient, the OPDA was also empowered to a share of foreign indemnities paid to the Ottomans by various Balkan states as a result of the Treaty of Berlin.

[5]: 41  The indemnities were of little comfort to the Ottomans anyway, because the treaty had also greatly reduced the size and population of the Empire, and thus its tax base.