Current account posts $2.7 billion deficit in November
ANKARA
Türkiye’s current account posted a deficit of $2.7 billion in November 2023, after two months of surpluses, the data from the Central Bank showed on Jan. 12.
The current account recorded surpluses were $1.92 billion in September and $10 million in October.
Economists had expected a current account deficit for November with their forecasts ranging between $1.4 billion and $2 billion.
Gold and energy excluded current account indicated net surplus of $2.15 billion, the Central Bank said in a statement on Jan. 12.
Goods deficit shrank from $4.93 billion in October to $4.4 billion as exports increased from $22.37 billion to $22.44 billion while imports declined from $27.3 billion to $26.9 billion.
Direct investment recorded net inflow of $921 million in November, accelerating from an inflow of $780 million in the previous month. In October, Türkiye saw a direct investment outflow of $334 million.
There was a net inflow of $5.37 billion under portfolio investments, which brought the total inflows in the first 11 months of 2023 to $6.6 billion against an outflow of $14.4 billion in the same period of the previous year.
“As regards to sub-items of liabilities, non-residents’ transactions on equity securities and government domestic debt securities recorded net purchases of $753 million and $353 million, respectively,” said the Central Bank.
Non-resident banks’ deposit accounts held within domestic banks increased by $591 million, with an increase of $429 million in foreign currency and $162 million in Turkish Lira accounts, showed the data from the bank.
Services recorded a net surplus of $3 billion with the travel item recording a net inflow of $2.35 billion. The inflows under the travel item amounted to $39.1 billion in January-November, which compared favorably with an inflow of $35.8 billion in the same period of 2022.
Official reserves increased by $6.71 billion in November.
The 12-month rolling current account deficit declined from $50.94 billion in October to $49.62 billion in November. It was $46.2 billion in November 2022.
The current account deficit stood at $43.6 billion in January-November last year, slightly higher than the deficit of $43.1 billion in the same period of 2022.
In its medium-term program, the government forecast that the current account deficit would decline from an estimated $42.5 billion - or 4 percent of GDP - in 2023 to $34.7 billion - 3.2 percent of national income - in 2024.
