Turkey's current account deficit widens in January

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s current account deficit stood at $2.76 billion in January, up almost by $561 million year-on-year, according to the Turkish Central Bank’s report Monday.

The figure was largely in line with forecasts made by a group of 17 economists who told Anadolu Agency they predict an average $2.8 billion current account deficit for January 2017.

The Central Bank said this was due to an increase in foreign trade deficit and a decrease in revenue from services.

"This development in the current account is mainly attributable to $420 million increase in the deficit in goods item recording $3.105 million and $232 million decrease in services item recording $578 million," the bank said in a statement.

Travel items under services recorded a net inflow of $589 million in January, decreasing by $125 million compared with the same month of the previous year, the bank also said.

Meanwhile, the 12-month rolling deficit rose to $33.16 billion, up from $32.6 billion in December 2016, according to the report.