UPDATE - Turkey's current account balance posts surplus in Nov.

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS FROM CENTRAL BANK

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey’s current account balance showed a surplus in November last year for the fourth month in a row, the country’s central bank said on Friday.

Turkey's current account surplus was $986 million in the month, versus a deficit of $4.48 billion in November 2017, according to the balance of payments report by the Turkish Central Bank.

In the previous three months, the current account balance showed surpluses with $1.9 billion in August, $1.8 billion in September and $2.75 billion in October.

In November, excluding gold and energy, current account balance posted a surplus of $4.5 billion, improving from a deficit of $898 million in the same month of 2017.

"The current account surplus is mainly attributable to the goods item indicating $523 million surplus in contrast to $4.8 billion deficit observed in the same month of the previous year, as well as $386 million increase in net inflows in the services item realizing $1.47 billion," the central bank said.

Travel item under services recorded a net inflow of $1.2 billion, rising by $201 million versus November 2017, said the bank.

Meanwhile, 12-month rolling deficit dropped to $33.9 billion in November, the bank added.

In 2017, Turkey's annual current account deficit was some $47.35 billion -- around 5.6 percent of the country's GDP. Over the last two decades, the country's highest annual current account deficit was seen in 2011 with $74.4 billion.

The country's new economic program, announced in September, is targeting a current-account-deficit-to-GDP ratio of 4.7 percent in 2018, 3.3 percent this year, 2.7 percent in 2020, and 2.6 percent in 2021.