October foreign trade gap narrows

Bloomberg

The shortfall shrank to $5.3 billion from a revised $5.7 billion in October 2007, the statistics agency in Ankara said on its Web site Friday. The median estimate of 10 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a deficit of $5.6 billion.

The Turkish lira, or YTL, fell as much as 25 percent against the dollar in October, making imported cars and ovens more expensive and pushing the index of consumer confidence to a record low. Falling global energy prices also helped curb the import bill.

Exports fell 3.1 percent to $9.6 billion in October, while imports decreased 4.8 percent to $14.9 billion, the agency said.