Current account deficit will be less than forecast in 2024: Şimşek

ANKARA

Türkiye’s current account deficit this year will be significantly lower than the initially forecast, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has said.

The improvement in annualized foreign trade deficit continued in March, Şimşek wrote on the social media platform X on April 5, commenting on the latest trade data.

“We expect a current account deficit well below the $34.7 billion deficit we predicted for this year in the medium-term program,” Şimşek said, adding that the improvement in the 12-month trailing foreign trade gap reached $14.3 billion in the first quarter.

The data the Trade Ministry released earlier this week showed that the foreign trade deficit shrank 41.2 percent in January-March compared to the same period of last year to $20.47 billion.

Exports grew 3.6 percent year-on-year to $63.66 billion, while imports fell 12.6 percent to $84.1 billion.

Over the same period, the annualized trade deficit plunged 22 percent to $92 billion.

“We will ensure reserve accumulation by reducing the current account deficit to below 2.5 percent of GDP,” Şimşek said.

The decreasing need for foreign exchange and the declining current account deficit due to the stabilization in economic growth and the increasing foreign resource inflows strengthen the macro-financial stability, he added.

Meanwhile, the export expectations index for the second quarter rose by 18.4 points compared with the previous quarter to 123.3, according to data from the Trade Ministry released on April 5.

The survey results show that companies became more optimistic about an increase in exports, the ministry said.

Any figure above the 100-mark indicates that companies expect exports to rise.