Turkey’s current-account deficit widened in May compared with the previous month, data from the country’s central bank showed Tuesday.
The current-account deficit was $7.93 billion in the fifth month of 2023 compared with a $5.40 billion deficit in April.
The widened reading was driven by a goods deficit of $10.48 billion, indicating the value of goods imported outweighed that of goods exported. However, services recorded a $3.86 billion surplus, driven by travel, which had a net inflow of $3.05 billion.
Official reserves decreased by $16.578 billion in May.
There was an outflow of $ 7.4 billion from the net errors and emissions account in May carrying the Jan-May outflow to $ 13.6 billion in 2023.
The news comes a few weeks after Turkey’s central bank substantially raised interest rates to 15% under new governor Hafize Gaye Erkan in a signal that the country was returning to more orthodox monetary policy.
The lira has fallen more than 10% against the dollar in the last month, making imports more expensive for Turkish consumers, but also helping to make exports of the country’s goods more attractive.