Current account deficit comes in at $5.3 billion in April

ANKARA

Türkiye’s current account posted a deficit of $5.29 billion in April, widening from the previous month’s deficit of $4.4 billion.

In the same month of last year, the current account deficit was $5.09 billion.

Gold and energy excluded, the current account indicated a net deficit of $497 million, the Central Bank said on June 10.

The foreign trade gap widened from $5.2 billion in March to $7.65 billion in April, while under services, the travel item recorded a net inflow of $2.55 billion, rising from the previous month’s $2.1 billion.

Direct investments recorded a net inflow of $856 million, comparing favorably with a net outflow of $224 million in March.

There was a net inflow of $2.02 billion under portfolio investments.

“Non-residents’ transactions on equity securities recorded net purchases of $360 million and government domestic debt securities recorded net purchases of $1.39 billion,” the bank said.

In the first four months of 2024, portfolio investments recorded a net inflow of $5.78 billion against the net outflow of $1.54 billion in the same period of last year.

Non-resident banks’ deposit accounts held within domestic banks increased by $1.6 billion, with an increase of $358 million in foreign currency and an increase of $1.25 billion in Turkish Lira accounts, the Central Bank said.

The country’s current account deficit declined from $29.7 billion in the January-April period of 2023 to $16.13 billion in the first four months of 2024.

The 12-month trailing current account deficit was $31.46 billion as of April, rising from $31.26 billion in March.

The government forecast that the current account deficit will shrink to $34.7 billion - or 3.1 percent of the estimated GDP - this year from $45 billion in 2023.