UPDATE - Turkey's current account posts $3.33B gap in March

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's current account balance posted a deficit of some $3.33 billion in March, decreasing by $2.12 billion from the same month last year, the Turkish Central Bank announced on Tuesday.

According to the balance of payments figures released by the bank, the country's 12-month rolling deficit totaled almost $36.2 billion.

An Anadolu Agency survey last week showed that a group of 13 economists' projections ranged from $3.2 billion to $3.9 billion for March, with the median at $3.6 billion.

The survey also revealed that the end-2021 current account balance was forecast to register a $27.1 billion deficit.

In February, the current account posted a $2.6 billion deficit.

The bank said the drop was mainly driven by a decrease in the goods deficit by $1.4 billion versus March 2020, posting some $2.96 billion this March, as well as a $374 million increase in services surplus to $767 million.

It said that gold and energy excluded, the current deficit amounted to $319 million compared to $1.64 billion deficit in the same month last year.

Travel items under services saw a net inflow of $742 million, up $228 million year-on-year.

The bank also said direct investments recorded net inflows of $363 million during the month.