Turkey’s current account recorded a lower-than-expected deficit of $1.82 billion (TL 13.59 billion) in July, the country's central bank said Friday, mainly due to costly imports and a downturn in tourism due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The figure deteriorated from a $1.9 billion surplus in July 2019. The balance saw a $2.9 billion deficit this June, according to data from the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT).
The median expectation was a $2 billion deficit, according to a Reuters poll. Meanwhile, an Anadolu Agency (AA) survey forecasted a deficit of $1.9 billion.
The trade deficit stood at $1.85 billion, the central bank said, while the services balance, which includes tourism, posted a net income of $288 million, down $4.6 billion from July 2019.
The deficit in the first seven months of the year stood at $21.63 billion and is expected to increase further in the coming months albeit at a slower pace.
Bringing a 12-month rolling deficit to $14.9 billion as of this July, the current account deficit mainly stemmed from an outflow in services.
The AA survey expects the end-2020 current account balance to show a deficit of $23.6 billion. The Reuters poll put the gap for 2020 at $26.5 billion.
The country’s new economic program, unveiled last September, forecast a current-account-surplus-to-gross-domestic-product (GDP) ratio of minus 1.2% for 2020.
The CBRT data showed that gold and energy excluded from the current account posted a $2.1 billion surplus, compared to a $5.3 billion surplus in July 2019.
Please click to read our informative text prepared pursuant to the Law on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 and to get information about the cookies used on our website in accordance with the relevant legislation.
6698 sayılı Kişisel Verilerin Korunması Kanunu uyarınca hazırlanmış aydınlatma metnimizi okumak ve sitemizde ilgili mevzuata uygun olarak kullanılan çerezlerle ilgili bilgi almak için lütfen tıklayınız.