Turkey: $1.1B current account surplus expected in July

Anadolu Agency survey shows economists' current account surplus forecasts for July range from $160M to $1.5B

By Murat Aslan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Economists expect the Turkish economy to run a current account surplus of $1.1 billion in July, according to an Anadolu Agency survey on Wednesday.

A group of 14 economists' estimates for the month ranged between a surplus of $160 million and $1.5 billion.

The Turkish Central Bank will release the monthly balance of payments figures on Friday, Sept. 13.

This June, the current account posted a $548 million deficit, while in the first half of 2019 the deficit totaled $3.26 billion.

Meanwhile, the survey showed the end-2019 current account balance is forecast to see a deficit of $4.5 billion, with the lowest estimate at $2 billion, and the highest at $9 billion.

Last year, the current account balance posted a deficit of around $27.6 billion, improving from a nearly $47.5 billion deficit in 2017.

Turkey's new economic program, announced in September 2018, targets a current-account-deficit-to-GDP ratio this year of 3.3%.

* Writing by Gokhan Ergocun

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