Türkiye’s current account registered a deficit of $7.93 billion (TL 207.10 billion) in May, more than forecasted, official data showed Tuesday.
The shortfall widened from $5.4 billion in April and $5.8 billion in May 2022, according to the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) data.
The figure is more than a forecast in a Reuters poll, where the median estimate of 10 economists was for a deficit of $7 billion, with forecasts ranging from $6 billion to $7.6 billion.
The gold- and energy-excluded current account saw a $1.3 billion deficit in the month, the central bank said.
The trade deficit, a major component of the current account, came in at $10.5 billion in May, as the cost of devastating earthquakes in February and gold imports weighed on the trade balance.
The services sector recorded a net surplus of $3.9 billion in the month, the data showed. Under the service sector, travel had a net inflow of $3.1 billion in May.
In January-May, the current account balance registered a $37.7 billion deficit.
In 2022, Türkiye’s current account deficit was around $48.77 billion.
The median forecast of seven economists in the Reuters poll for the current account deficit for the full year of 2023 was $50 billion, with estimates ranging between $40 billion and $57 billion.
Following the elections and overhaul of the economy team, Ankara is expected to update its economic forecasts for the next three years in September.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan named Mehmet Şimşek, a former deputy prime minister who is well regarded by foreign investors, as finance minister, which was seen as an initial sign that Ankara would revamp policies centered around monetary stimulus and opt for interest rate hikes to combat stubborn inflation, stabilize the volatility in the Turkish lira and rebuild foreign exchange reserves.
Since then, the central bank has hiked its policy rate to 15% from 8.5% and pledged further tightening to fight inflation, while the government has introduced tax and fee hikes to ramp up budget income.
