UPDATE - Turkey's current account gap falls in January

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS AND COMMENTS FROM CENTRAL BANK

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's current account deficit fell 88.4 percent in the first month of this year, the country's Central Bank announced on Monday.

In January, the current account posted an $813 million deficit, improving from a $7 billion deficit in the same month last year.

An Anadolu Agency survey on Friday showed that economists had forecast a deficit of $800 million.

Estimates from a group of 16 economists for the first month of 2019 ranged from $600 million to $1.2 billion.

The Central Bank said the development in the current account is mainly attributable to a fall in the foreign trade deficit and rise in net inflows in the services item.

"The gold- and energy-excluded current account indicated a $2.9 billion surplus, in contrast to a $1.5 billion deficit observed in the same month of 2018," the bank said.

Official figures said the travel item under services saw a net inflow of some $1 billion in January, up $127 million on a yearly basis.

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, targets a current-account-deficit-to-GDP ratio of 3.3 percent this year.

An Anadolu Agency survey also showed the end-2019 current account balance is expected to show a deficit of $19.5 billion, with estimates ranging from $12 billion to $28 billion.