Current account deficit at $4.5 billion in March

ANKARA

Türkiye’s current account deficit came in at $4.48 billion in March, down from the gap of $8.76 billion in February, data from the Central Bank have shown.

The current account deficit was $10.4 billion in January.
“Gold and energy excluded the current account balance indicated a net surplus of $1.37 billion,” the Central Bank said.

Exports amounted to $23.3 billion, while imports were $29.68 billion, leading to a trade deficit of $6.3 billion in March, below the foreign trade gap of $10.5 billion in February.

Direct investments recorded a net inflow of $238 million, slowing from $511 million of inflows in the previous month, while the inflows in the January-March period amounted to $889 million, up from $653 million in the same period of last year.

There was a net outflow of $1.03 billion under portfolio investments in March, after a net inflow of $240 million in February.

“Non-residents’ transactions on equity securities recorded net sales of $256 million, while government domestic debt securities recorded net purchases of $36 million,” the bank said.

Non-resident banks’ deposit accounts held within domestic banks increased by $757 million, with an increase of $610 million in foreign currency and $147 million in Turkish Lira accounts.

Official reserves decreased by $264 million, according to the Central Bank’s data.

In the first quarter of 2023, the current account deficit was $23.59 billion, rising from the deficit of $17.77 billion in the January-March period of 2022.

Türkiye’s 12-month trailing current account deficit eased from $55.3 billion in February to $54.2 billion in March, the bank said.