Turkey’s trade deficit rises 51.4% in February

Data published by the Turkish Statistical Institute on Friday showed that the country’s foreign trade deficit rose 51.4 percent in February on an annual basis to $12.08 billion, after imports jumped 10.1 percent.

The data showed that imports amounted to 30.71 billion dollars, while exports fell 6.4 percent to 18.64 billion dollars.

Under an economic program unveiled in 2021, Turkey aims to achieve a current account surplus by boosting exports and lowering interest rates, despite high inflation and currency depreciation over the past few years.

The data showed that the trade deficit for January and February rose 44.1 percent year-on-year to $26.33 billion.