Current account deficit rises 30.3 pct in Q1
Posted by meb at May 10th, 2008
Turkey’s current account deficit increased by 30.3 percent to $12.04 billion in the first quarter of 2008 over the same period last year, according to data released yesterday.
The Turkish Central Bank yesterday released Turkey’s balance of payments report for March. According to the report Turkey’s current account deficit increased by 37 percent to $4.16 billion in March 2008 compared to deficit of $3.03 billion in the same month last year. The foreign trade deficit in the balance of payments increased by 31.8 percent to $4.06 billion over the same month in 2007 and the services surplus increased by 39.2 percent to $757 million, while net outflows in income items rose by 61.3 percent to $1.03 billion and current transfers recorded $180 million, a 26.8 percent increase. The central bank report indicates that foreign trade reached $12.06 billion in the period between January and March, an expansion of 35.2 percent over the same period last year. Foreign direct investment in Turkey, which includes inter-company loans received from parent companies abroad and real estate purchases by foreign investors, reached $4.4 billion in the January-March period this year, while this number was $9.4 billion in the same period of 2007, owing mostly to foreign acquisitions in the banking sector. An influx of $2.4 billion in foreign direct investment in March 2008 is primarily attributable to the acquisition of a 60 percent stake in Türkiye Finans Katılım Bankası equity shares by Saudi-based National Commercial Bank and the acquisition of 50 percent of AXA Oyak Holding equity shares by the French-based AXA Mediterranean Holding S.A. Direct investment, on the other had, saw a total of $4.04 billion in the first three months of 2008, a decline of 50.5 percent over the same period of 2007.
source: Today’s Zaman
Related posts:
