Current account gap closes on low demand

Bloomberg

The surplus, the second in as many months, was $343 million compared with a deficit of $3.9 billion in February 2008, the Central Bank in Ankara said on its Web site Friday. A surplus of $800 million was forecast, according to the median estimate of 11 economists in a Bloomberg survey.

"The trade deficit was almost zero in February and that’s why we saw a current account surplus in the month," said Ozan Gazitürk, an economist at Şekerbank in Istanbul. "Global contraction has caused a deep contraction in the Turkish economy, which reflects on the current account."

Turkey’s import bill is sliding as the global financial crisis curbs demand for imported raw materials and the price of oil declines. Turkish industrial output fell 23.7 percent in February, the most since records began, as companies such as Ford Otosan suspended production as demand dries up at home and abroad. The deficit in the 12 months through February narrowed to $33.1 billion from $37.3 billion a month earlier. The deficit peaked on a 12-month rolling basis at $49 billion in August.

Turkey’s February trade gap of $81 million was the narrowest since 1994. Imports tumbled 48 percent from a year earlier to $8.4 billion, the lowest since January 2006, and exports fell 25 percent to $8.3 billion, the statistics agency said March 31.