According to a report on balance of payment developments in January 2010 released by the Central Bank of Turkey on Thursday, the staggering rise in the current account balance in January is mainly attributable to the 596.6 percent increase in the foreign trade deficit in the same period, reaching $2.65 million. Still feeling the aftereffects of the global financial crisis, demand from domestic consumers for imported goods dropped by 23.9 percent to $11.5 billion in the first month of the year, while exports also suffered a slight decline during the same period, totaling $7.86 billion, a figure 0.3 percent less than last year’s January exports. During the same period revenue from the shuttle trade is estimated to be down by 2.1 percent to $334 million, all together resulting in a mounting trade deficit.
During the first month of the year, services enjoyed a 70.1 percent rise in the total surplus it generated, up from $107 million in January 2009 to $182 million in the same month of last year. Tourism suffered an 8.3 percent drop in net revenues to $474 million. According to data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat), tourism revenue declined by 3.8 percent to $769 million in January while tourism expenditures reached $295 million, rising by 4.6 percent in comparison with the same month of last year.
The financial account recorded a net capital inflow of $962 million in January, in contrast to a net outflow of $308 million in the same month of 2009. In contrast, foreign direct investment (FDI) registered a 78.9 percent decrease to $316 million in January, with real estate purchases by foreigners increasing by 5.3 percent while net loans received from parent companies abroad recorded a net disbursement of $9 million. Turkish citizens’ investments abroad also decreased to $37 million in January, resulting in a 72.6 percent drop in net inflows in direct investment.
