Current account deficit at $4.5 billion in March
ANKARA
Türkiye’s current account deficit came in at $4.48 billion in March, down from the gap of $8.76 billion in February, data from the Central Bank have shown.
The current account deficit was $10.4 billion in January.
“Gold and energy excluded the current account balance indicated a net surplus of $1.37 billion,” the Central Bank said.
Exports amounted to $23.3 billion, while imports were $29.68 billion, leading to a trade deficit of $6.3 billion in March, below the foreign trade gap of $10.5 billion in February.
Direct investments recorded a net inflow of $238 million, slowing from $511 million of inflows in the previous month, while the inflows in the January-March period amounted to $889 million, up from $653 million in the same period of last year.
There was a net outflow of $1.03 billion under portfolio investments in March, after a net inflow of $240 million in February.
“Non-residents’ transactions on equity securities recorded net sales of $256 million, while government domestic debt securities recorded net purchases of $36 million,” the bank said.
Non-resident banks’ deposit accounts held within domestic banks increased by $757 million, with an increase of $610 million in foreign currency and $147 million in Turkish Lira accounts.
Official reserves decreased by $264 million, according to the Central Bank’s data.
In the first quarter of 2023, the current account deficit was $23.59 billion, rising from the deficit of $17.77 billion in the January-March period of 2022.
Türkiye’s 12-month trailing current account deficit eased from $55.3 billion in February to $54.2 billion in March, the bank said.
