Trade gap grows due to gold imports

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkey’s trade deficit surged by 14.8 percent in May compared to the same month last year, due to a rise in gold imports over the intervening period.

As the country’s imports surged by 6.7 percent and amounted to $23.2 billion, surpassing the $13.3 billion exports despite its 1.4 percent hike, Turkey’s trade deficit jumped to $9.9 billion in May, according to data revealed by Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜIK) on June 28. The deficit for the first five months of the year approached $42 billion, which is 17 percent higher than last year’s five-month period.

The upward trend of foreign trade deficit persists and is expected to keep going, Burgan Investment Chief Economist Haluk Bürümcekçi told Reuters, holding the rise in gold imports responsible for the hike in May.

“The gold import’s rising to $2.2 billion had an important impact on the import surge… When looking at exports, since last year’s gold exports won’t be repeated this year,” he said.