UPDATE - Türkiye's foreign trade gap narrows 41.5% in Q1

UPDATES WITH COMMENTS FROM TURKISH TREASURY AND FINANCE MINISTER; REVISES HEADLINE

By Gokhan Ergocun

RIYADH (AA) - Türkiye's foreign trade deficit narrowed 41.5% to $20.3 billion this January-March versus the same period last year, official figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) showed on Tuesday.

The country's exports rose 3.6% to $65.6 billion in the three-month period, while imports dropped 12.8% to $83.9 billion.

The exports/imports coverage ratio was 75.8% in the first quarter, up from 63.8% in the same period last year.

In March alone, the country's exports dropped 4.1% to $22.57 billion while imports fell 6.3% to $29.9 billion.

The foreign trade gap was at $7.3 billion in March, down 12.4% versus March 2023.

Mehmet Simsek, the Turkish treasury and finance minister, said on X that Türkiye's economic program is working.

"The improvement in the annual foreign trade deficit has continued uninterruptedly for eight months," he said.

Reshaped supply chains after the pandemic, strategic competition, and fragmentation in global trade are increasing the tendency to procure goods from friendly and near countries, he noted.

With its strategic location, Türkiye is one of the countries most positively affected by these trends, he stressed.

"We will further strengthen our position in global trade with structural reforms that will increase productivity," he added.