Turkey’s foreign trade deficit widens in March

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

DHA Photo

Turkey’s foreign trade deficit soared to $6.15 billion in March 2015, up 17.2 percent from $5.25 billion in the same month last year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) revealed on April 30.

The surge in the foreign trade deficit followed a two-month decline in the first two months of the year.

The decline in the foreign trade deficit observed in the first two months of the year was largely attributed to the fact that imports are slowing much faster than imports.

However, in March the foreign trade deficit halted its downward move as the decline in exports was more significant than the drop in imports.

TÜİK valued March exports at $12.57 billion, a 14.4 percent decline year-on-year. Imports were also down to $18.7 billion, a 6.1 percent decline.

Turkey’s exports to the EU, its main trading partner, declined by 11.8 percent in March to $5.3 billion.

China was the main exporter to Turkey in March. Turkey imported $2.3 billion worth of goods from the world’s second-biggest economy.