Turkish Sept current account deficit $4.527bn

INSTANBUL, Nov 13, (RTRS): Turkey’s current account deficit widened more than expected to $4.53 billion in September, official data showed on Monday, more than doubling from the same period a year earlier.

The wider deficit in the current account, which measures the flow of goods, services and investments, was driven by an increase in the cost of energy, gold and other imports, reflecting what analysts said was high commodity prices and robust domestic demand.

“Looking ahead, preliminary trade data indicate further widening in the trade deficit in October, which will translate into a higher (current account) deficit,” Deniz Cicek, an economist at QNB Finansbank, said in a note.

“We expect the widening trend in the external deficits to keep on due to rising energy costs and strong domestic demand while gold flows will remain as a source of uncertainty.”

The current account deficit widened to $4.527 billion in September, outstripping the $4.125 billion average estimate in a poll of 13 economists by Reuters. It compared to a deficit of $1.593 billion in September 2016.

For the first nine months of the year, the current account deficit totalled $31.1 billion, a 27 percent increase from $24.48 billion in the same period last year.

Turkey’s economy has recovered from the downturn it suffered after last year’s failed coup — thanks to a series of stimulus measures introduced by President Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling AK Party.

However, investor concerns about security and politics have helped to heap pressure onto the struggling lira driving up the cost of energy and other imports. Turkey imports almost all of its energy needs.