Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said on Oct. 13 that Türkiye’s current account deficit was expected to remain manageable, supported by growth in goods exports and resilient services revenues.
His comments followed Central Bank data showing a current account surplus of $4.05 billion in August. The rolling 12-month deficit nevertheless widened to $42.1 billion from $41.5 billion in July.
Writing on X, Şimşek said Türkiye’s diversified energy suppliers and strong infrastructure continued to support energy security as risks to global supply increased.
Türkiye had spent $1.1 trillion on energy imports over the past 26 years, equivalent to 1.6 times its cumulative current account deficit over that period and twice its current gross external debt stock, he said. The figures demonstrated the strategic importance of the green transition, he added.
“We expect measures aimed at reducing dependence on imported energy to strengthen our resilience against global price shocks over the medium and long term, while also contributing to an improvement in the current account balance,” Şimşek said.
The government would continue policies to expand market access through free trade agreements, increase the value added of exports and improve competitiveness in services such as health tourism, contracting, software, education, engineering and design, he said.
The Central Bank figures showed a goods deficit of $3.75 billion in August, while services generated net inflows of $9.7 billion. Net travel receipts stood at $7.3 billion and net transportation receipts at $3.3 billion.
Excluding gold and energy, the current account recorded an $8.2 billion surplus.
Direct investment generated net inflows of $141 million, while portfolio investment recorded net outflows of about $1 billion. Official reserves increased by $7.14 billion during the month.
For January-August, the current account deficit totaled $31.5 billion, compared with $19.7 billion in the same period of 2025.
The government’s Medium-Term Program projects a deficit of $47.5 billion, or 2.6 percent of gross domestic product, in 2026. It forecasts a decline to $38.5 billion, or 1.9 percent of GDP, in 2027.
