Turkey: $800M current account deficit expected in Jan

By Erhan Cihan Unal

ISTANBUL (AA) - Economists forecast Turkey's current account balance will post $800M deficit for January 2019, according to an Anadolu Agency survey on Friday.

A group of 16 economists' estimations ranged in $600 million to $1.2 billion for the first month of 2019.

The Central Bank of Turkey will release the balance of payments figures next Monday.

In December 2018, the country's current account balance posted some $1.4 billion deficit on a monthly basis, after giving surplus for four consecutive months.

In addition to the monthly forecasts, survey showed that 2019-end current account balance is expected to show a deficit of $19.5 billion, varying from $12 billion to $28 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.

The figure was the lowest since 2009, while Turkey’s highest annual current account deficit over the last decade was seen in 2011, with $74.4 billion.

The country's new economic program, announced in September 2018, targeted a current-account-deficit-to-GDP ratio of 3.3 percent this year.

* Writing and contributions by Muhammed Ali Gurtas from Ankara