2024-03-07 07:44:51
TurkPress
The inflation rate in Turkey last February rose more than expected, reaching 67.1% on an annual basis from 64.9% last January, amid a decline in the trade deficit.
According to data from the Turkish Statistics Authority, the rise in consumer goods prices driven by the decline in the lira exchange rate only reached 4.5% on a monthly basis.
The Turkish Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Simsek, expected that annual inflation would remain high in the coming months, due to the effects of the base year and the lack of the impact of monetary policy, but it would decline during the following 12 months.
The Turkish minister added to the local Bloomberg HT channel that the government’s economic program is working better than expected in some sectors, as the first quarter trend shows that net exports will reflect positively on growth, and the current account deficit will decrease to between 30-35 billion dollars during the period. Last February to this March.
According to the minister’s statements, Turkey aims to increase its reserves at least to the level of short-term external debt, according to what Al Jazeera Net reported.
Simsek added that the decline in the purchase of credit default swap contracts shows the markets’ confidence in the economic program, as new portfolio flows amounted to $11.4 billion in the period from June to December last year.
Deficit decline
This comes after Turkish Trade Minister Omer Polat announced that Turkey’s trade deficit had shrunk by 42.3% on an annual basis to $7 billion last February.
Polat added that exports rose 13.6% to $21.09 billion last February, while imports decreased 8.5% to $28.09 billion.
Data last Thursday showed that the Turkish economy grew 4% more than expected in the fourth quarter of last year, with the full year growing by 4.5% as strong domestic demand offset the impact of the slowdown in major trading partners and the devastating earthquakes last February.
According to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute, growth is expected to slow this year, but the gross domestic product in the fourth quarter is still growing 1% from the previous quarter on an adjusted basis for seasonal factors and calendar-related reasons.
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