June exports rise 34.88 percent
Posted by meb at July 2nd, 2008
Turkey is among the top 20 economies in the world, said the chairman of the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly, or TIM, while revealing the June export figures in the Tarsus district of Mersin yesterday. “This is not an accomplishment to be belittled,” said Oğuz Satıcı.
Turkey’s exports increased 34.88 percent in June to $12.74 billion compared to the same period last year, he said. During the first six months of the year, exports increased 36.07 percent to reach $67.14 billion. The country’s exports rose almost 30 percent to $123.76 billion in the past 12 months.
“Transportation vehicle exports were worth $2.44 billion, while transportation vehicle-related industries collected $2.29 billion from exports. The iron and steel sectors, on the other hand, had exports totaling $1.29 billion,” said Satıcı.
The agriculture sector had an 8.44 percent share in June exports. Exports in the sector increased 33.04 percent compared to last year.
Meanwhile, the exports of the industry sector, which has an 88.95 percent share in the country’s monthly exports, totaled $10.74 billion. That is an increase of 35.74 percent compared to the same period last year. The industrial sector’s exports for the first six months of the year totaled $59.2 billion, while exports for all 12 months surpassed $107.8 billion.
Bitter truth
However, beside the pretty picture painted, there is the bitter truth of Turkey, which also ranked sixth in high current account deficits and fifth in domestic borrowing among emerging countries.
“Being deeply indebted means that the country’s income and expenditure balance is not in check. To make a long story short, Turkey, unable to spin its economy with its income, looks abroad. As the amount of borrowing increases, so does the real interest rate. A high interest rate creates a low exchange rate policy and environment that sabotage production. Such an environment also pushes people to loan money to the government instead of investing,” Satıcı said.
“Production is the foundation of wealth. Meanwhile, we are pulling away from production. With high energy costs and high taxes, we are blocking the path of lasting production, meaning we are barricading Turkey’s road to wealth,” he added.
May foreign trade deficit widens to record
Turkey’s trade deficit widened to $6.8 billion in May, a record for a single month, as rising oil prices boosted the import bill. The trade gap expanded from $5.8 billion in the same period last year, the Turkish Statistical Institute, or TÜİK, said on its Web site Monday.
The trade deficit is widening even as exports hit record levels because the country depends on imports of energy and raw materials. The gap has widened for 13 consecutive months and the current-account deficit, the widest measure of trade in goods and services, may reach $50 billion by year’s end, Economy Minister Mehmet Şimsek said in April. The 2007 deficit was $38 billion.
Exports rose 37 percent to $12.5 billion in May, a record for a single month, the statistics agency said. Imports increased 29 percent to $19.3 billion from the same period last year, also a record. Turkey imports nearly all of its energy, and crude oil prices rose to about $128 a barrel in February from $66 a year earlier. Imports of fuels and mineral oils rose to $4.6 billion in May 2008 from $2.7 billion in the same month of 2007.
source: Turkish Daily news
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