Turkey's current account deficit widens in June

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s current account deficit stood at $4.94 billion in June, up more than $1.7 billion year-on-year due to the decline in income from tourism and increase in imports, the Central Bank said Thursday.

The 12-month rolling deficit rose to $29.4 billion, up from $27.7 billion in May of the year.

A fall in the services surplus and an increase in the deficit in goods trade and primary income was the main reason for the increase, the bank said.

"This development in the current account is mainly attributable to $1.23 billion decrease in the services surplus to $1.2 billion and $326 million increase in the deficit in goods item reaching to $5.2 billion," the bank said in a statement on its website.

Turkey's revenues from tourism fell to $5 billion in the second quarter of the year, a decrease of 35.6 percent from the same period in the previous year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said on July 29.

The country’s first half-year total revenue from tourism was $9.04 billion, down from $12.6 billion a year earlier.