UPDATE - Türkiye's exports decline 1.8% in September, imports also fall

UPDATE WITH TURKISH FINANCE MINISTER'S COMMENTS; REVISES DECK

By Gokhan Ergocun

ADANA, Türkiye (AA) - Türkiye's exports totaled $22 billion in September, down 1.8% year-on-year, the Turkish trade minister announced Wednesday.

Imports also dropped 1.4% in September, reaching $27.1 billion, Omer Bolat told a press conference in the capital Ankara.

The foreign trade deficit for September stood at $5.1 billion, roughly the same as in September 2023, he added.

For the third quarter of the year, exports rose 4.4% to $66.6 billion, while imports fell 6.8% to $84 billion compared to the same period last year, Bolat said.

The foreign trade deficit for the quarter was $17.4 billion, down 34%. The export-import coverage ratio improved to 79.2%, up from 70.8% a year earlier.

In the first nine months of 2023, exports rose 3.2% to $192.8 billion, while imports fell 8% to $252.9 billion, Bolat noted.

He highlighted that the foreign trade deficit narrowed 31.5% to $60.1 billion this January to September.

Mehmet Simsek, the Turkish treasury and finance minister, said on X: "We expect the annual current account deficit to decline to around $15 billion in August and to be realized at similar levels in September.

"Thus, the ratio of the annual current account deficit to GDP will fall below 1.5% in the third quarter."

The falling current account deficit reduces the country's need for external financing, supports macro financial stability, and contributes significantly to its main objective of permanent price stability, he added.