Türkiye's current account balance recorded its first surplus in nine months in July, supported by robust tourism revenues and resilient goods exports, official data showed on Friday.
The surplus came in at almost $1.78 billion, according to data by the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT). The figure followed a $2 billion deficit in June and exceeded market expectations of a $1.57 billion surplus.
Excluding gold and energy, the balance showed a surplus of around $6 billion in July, while the foreign trade deficit totaled $4.6 billion, the data showed.
On a 12-month rolling basis, the deficit narrowed to $18.8 billion, while the trade deficit stood at $62.7 billion. Services recorded a net surplus of $62 billion.
Between January and July, the current account posted a cumulative deficit of $21.2 billion, the data showed.
Breakdown of July data:
• Services posted a net inflow of $8 billion, of which $6.2 billion came from travel revenues.
• Net inflows from foreign direct investment totaled $1.22 billion.
• Portfolio investments recorded a net inflow of $5.1 billion.
• Official reserves rose by $18.6 billion.
Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said the improvement in the current account balance was helping to support the government's disinflation drive.
He said resilient exports and rising services income enabled the surplus despite challenging external conditions and weak global trade outlook.
Yılmaz projected the current account deficit would decline to 1.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) by end-2025, helped by lower energy costs and diversified export markets.
"The improvement in the deficit has been driven not only by a rise in goods exports despite challenging external demand conditions, but also by growing services exports, especially tourism revenues, which are expected to reach $64 billion by year-end," he wrote on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.
Yılmaz added that the government aims to reduce the deficit-to-GDP ratio to 1% by 2028 under its newly updated medium-term program through high value-added production, increased goods and services exports and reduced dependence on energy and intermediate goods imports.
Treasury and Finance Minsiter Mehmet Şimşek also welcomed the figures, noting that Türkiye's external financing outlook remained positive.
"In the first seven months, rollover ratios reached 163% for corporates and 227% for banks," Şimşek said on social media platform X.
"With a narrowing trade deficit and strong tourism income in the third quarter, we expect further improvement in the annual current account balance," he noted.
Şimşek said the medium-term program focuses on making these gains permanent, improving the quality of external financing and boosting competitiveness through structural reforms and technology-driven transformation.
