UPDATE - Türkiye sees current account deficit of $5.3B in April

UPDATES WITH TREASURY AND FINANCE MINISTER'S COMMENTS; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK; OTHER EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Tuba Ongun and Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA / ISTANBUL (AA) – Türkiye's current account balance posted a $5.3 billion deficit in April, the country’s Central Bank announced on Monday.

The figure widened from a $4.4 billion deficit in March and $5.1 billion in April, the bank’s data showed.

The gold- and energy-excluded current account saw a $597 million gap in the month, the bank said.

The goods deficit reached $7.6 billion in April, while the services sector ran a net surplus of $3.1 billion. Under the services sector, travel in April had a net inflow of $2.5 billion.

In January-April, the current account balance saw a $16.1 billion deficit, narrowing from $29.7 billion in the same period last year.

- Effect of Muslim holiday in April

Due to the increase in the foreign trade deficit based on the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, which this year fell in April, the annual current account deficit increased by a limited amount, the Turkish treasury and finance minister said on X.

The favorable course in external financing inflows continued, he said.

In the first four months of last year, there was a net outflow of $1.5 billion in portfolio investments, while there was a net inflow of $5.8 billion in the same period of this year, he stressed.

Simsek noted that over the same period, external debt rollover ratios including medium-long term bonds rose from 90% to 158% for the banking sector and from 72% to 116% for the non-bank private sector.

"We also expect a rise in international direct investments thank to the steps we have taken under our program," he added.

He said that for the rest of the year, the country expects the current account deficit to hover in the $24-27 billion range, well below targets.