According to a report on balance of payment developments in March released Tuesday by the Central Bank of Turkey, the staggering rise in the current account deficit in the third month of the year is mainly attributable to a 189.6 percent rise in the foreign trade deficit, to $3.56 billion, in March, compared to the same month of 2009. A 59.4 percent drop in the services surplus to $188 million along with a 95.5 percent increase in net income outflows to $1.05 billion also played an important role in this rise, the report found.The foreign trade deficit totaled $8.44 billion in the January-March period, up by 664.57 percent from the same period of 2009, when the deficit was $1.27 billion. The bank attributed the surge to a 32.7 percent rise in import spending, including gold, to $38.33 billion, despite a 7 percent increase in export revenue, to $26.2 billion, as well as a 28.6 percent jump in revenue from the shuttle trade to $1.45 billion.
The first quarter of 2010 saw the service sector generate a surplus of $463 million, a figure 49.2 percent less than the same period of the previous year, when the sector enjoyed a surplus of $911 million. During the first three months of the year, tourism sector revenue dropped by 9.4 percent, to $1.42 billion, compared to the same period of 2009. The transportation sector enjoyed a surplus of $304 million in the January-March period, registering a 9.7 percent rise over the first three months of the previous year, while revenues from construction services performed abroad by Turkish firms were down 25.4 percent, to $209 million, in the same period.
The financial account recorded a net capital inflow of $7.85 billion in the first quarter, in contrast to a net outflow of $3.44 billion in the same period of 2009. During the same period, direct investment posted a net inflow of $1.03 billion, decreasing by 50.2 percent. The first three months of the year saw foreign direct investment (FDI) decreasing by 39 percent to $1.48 billion, with real estate purchases by foreign interests increasing by 69.5 percent, to $566 million, while net loans received from parent companies abroad recorded a net disbursement of $58 million. Turkish investments abroad also totaled $448 million in the first quarter, up from $356 million in the same period of the previous year.
