Increases in exports of goods and services contribute to reserve accumulation, financial stability and the disinflation process by reducing the current account deficit and the need for foreign currency, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said on Saturday, evaluating the latest foreign trade data.
"Despite a period when demand is not vibrant in our foreign markets, especially in Europe, our exports, which are an important indicator of our policy of balancing growth, continue to increase," Yılmaz said in a post on X.
"I congratulate our exporters and our institutions that support them with various tools," he added.
The preliminary foreign trade data announced on Friday showed that exports from Türkiye in July surged 13.8% year-over-year to hit $22.5 billion. At the same time, the imports dropped by 7.9% in July to $32.3 billion.
Citing the monthly data, Yılmaz further said that the annualized value of "our exports increased to $261.5 billion in July," adding that the year-end target in the medium-term program (MTP) was $267 billion.
Exports are among the priority areas that the Turkish government is seeking to rely on as they rebalance the economy's growth composition.
As part of its economic program, Türkiye introduced measures to cap strong domestic demand – one of the main reasons for higher imports – and to boost investments and exports to improve the current account balance.
"We see a similar momentum in tourism revenues that we have achieved in our exports. Our tourism revenues are at a record level with $23.7 billion in the first six months. Our MTP year-end target is $60 billion," noted the vice president.
The data earlier during the week showed the strong trend in tourism spending persisted in the second quarter, while total arrivals to the country also increased to hit 26.1 million in the January-June period.
The tourism industry is another vital area, contributing significantly to the country's economy, and displaying positive trends following the post-pandemic recovery.
"These increases in exports of goods and services reduce the current account deficit and the need for foreign currency, contributing to reserve accumulation, financial stability and the disinflation process," said Yılmaz.
"We will continue to maintain our export-oriented sustainable growth target in an environment of political and macroeconomic stability and trust in the MTP that we will update in September."
Other top officials also welcomed the latest data, hoping for momentum in the outbound shipments to continue in the upcoming period.
