Turkey: Tourism, trade fall blamed for deficit increase

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s Central Bank on Monday said the country’s current account deficit had widened, standing at $1.68 billion in October -- up almost by $1.33 billion year-on-year.

The bank blamed a decline in income from tourism and foreign trade.

According to bank data, the 12-month rolling deficit rose to $33.7 billion, up from $32.4 billion in September 2016.

The fall in the services surplus due to slipping tourism revenue plus a growing foreign trade deficit of $333 million from a year earlier was the main reason for the increase, the bank said.

In a statement, the Central Bank said: "This development in the current account is mainly attributable to the increase in the deficit in goods items by $333 million to $2,804 million, as well as a $916 million decrease in the services surplus to $1,793 million and a $137 million increase in the primary income deficit to $771 million."

Travel items under services recorded a net inflow of $1.69 billion, decreasing by $630 million compared to the same month of the previous year, the bank added.

Turkish revenues from tourism fell by 32.7 percent to $8.28 billion in the third quarter of the year, official figures showed on Oct. 31.

The country’s total revenue from tourism was over $17.3 billion from January to September, $7.6 billion less compared to the same period last year, according to TurkStat.