UPDATE - Turkey's current account deficit continues to narrow for 4th straight month

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's current account balance posted a deficit of $1.127 billion in June, down $1.95 billion from the same month last year, the Turkish Central Bank announced on Friday.

With June figures, the current account deficit continued to narrow for the fourth month in a row.

According to balance of payments figures released by the bank, the country's 12-month rolling deficit totaled almost $29.68 billion.

An Anadolu Agency survey this week showed that a group of 17 economists' projections for the June current account deficit ranged from $700 million to $2.3 billion, with the median at $1.26 billion.

The survey also projected that the end-2021 current account balance will have a $21.3 billion deficit.

In May, the current account posted a $3.08 billion deficit.

The bank said the drop is mainly driven by $1.5 billion net inflow in services item, in contrast to net outflow of $346 million observed in the same month of the previous year.

The goods deficit also narrowed by $462 million to $1.6 billion in June on an annual basis.

"Gold and energy excluded current account indicated $1.99 billion surplus which was recorded $40 million surplus in the same month of the previous year," the bank noted.

Travel items under services saw a net inflow of $1.02 billion in June.

The bank also said direct investments recorded net inflow of $796 million during the month.