ISTANBUL: The Turkish current account showed a less-than-expected surplus of $151 million in May, the central bank said on Thursday, supported by tourism revenues and a rise in exports.
Turkey's current account generally shows a deficit but it began to narrow sharply amid a currency crisis last year, when the lira weakened some 30%. That raised import prices and narrowed the trade deficit, a major current account element.
The median estimate of 13 economists polled by Reuters was for a surplus of $300 million in May. In the year as a whole a deficit of $7.1 billion is expected.
Turkey's annual current account deficit, which stood at $27.63 billion last year, has been one of the main concerns of investors because it makes the economy reliant on speculative inflows to finance the shortfall.
The current account recorded a deficit of $3.14 billion in the first five months of this year, the central bank said.
Ankara expects the current account deficit to be $26 billion, or 3.3% of gross domestic product, at the end of this year, according to its economic programme. Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said the annual current account balance will show a surplus starting from June.
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