Turkey’s 12-month cumulative current account recorded a surplus in June for the first time in nearly 17 years, data from the central bank showed on Friday, even as the monthly current account showed a more-than-expected deficit of $548 million, Reuters reported.
Turkey’s large current account deficit, which reached $58 billion on a 12-month basis in May 2018, has long been a main concern for investors because it makes the economy reliant on speculative foreign inflows to finance the shortfall.
However, a currency crisis last year saw economic activity slow dramatically and caused the price of imports to surge, leading to a reduction in the current account deficit.
The median estimate in a Reuters poll was a deficit of $265 million.
Economists expect the 12-month surplus, which stood at $538 million in June, to rise in July, and they say the annual 2019 current account balance will depend on growth and economic recovery the rest of the year.
The year-end median estimate in the Reuters poll was a deficit of $8.25 billion.
In May the current account surplus was $317 million. In 2018 Turkey’s current account deficit was $27.633 billion.
The 12-month cumulative current account last showed a surplus in November 2002.