UPDATE - Turkey breaks its exports record in H1: Trade minister

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS OF MINISTER; ADDS MINISTRY DATA

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Recording $88.2 billion in the first half of 2019, Turkey’s exports hit the highest figure in its history, the nation's trade minister said on Tuesday.

"Despite the downward revisions in global economy, especially in the growth prospects of the most important export market Eurozone, Turkish exports rose 2.18% to $88.2 billion in the first six months of this year and set a record in the history of Turkish Republic," Ruhsar Pekcan said in a statement.

Turkish imports fell by 20.3% on a yearly basis to reach $102.2 billion in the January-June period [based on the general trade system], according to data by the Trade Ministry.

Pekcan said Turkey's foreign trade gap narrowed to $13.96 billion in the first half of this year.

She also said the country's foreign trade volume fell by 11.3% to $190.4 billion from January to June.

"Exports coverage ratio to imports reached 86.3% in the January-June period, up from 67.3% in the same period last year," she underlined.

Mentioning the slowdown in the global economy, trade wars, protectionism tendencies and possible Brexit without deal, Ruhsar said: "Despite all these challenges, we expect Turkey to maintain its positive performance in exports throughout 2019."

- Foreign trade figures in June

In June, Turkish exports dropped nearly 15% year-on-year to $11.6 billion based on general trade system, the ministry data revealed.

The decrease stemmed from nine-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, Pekcan stated.

The country's imports in June posted an annual decline of nearly 23% to $15 billion.

Thus, the exports-to-imports coverage ratio was at 76.9% in June.

Foreign trade deficit decreased 41.1% to $3.5 billion in the same period.