Turkey's foreign trade deficit dips in October

ANKARA

Turkey's foreign trade deficit shrank for the second consecutive month in October, the Turkish Statistical Institute said Friday.

In October, the country's foreign trade deficit declined from $7.4 billion in same month of last year to $6.2 billion, a drop of 15.8 percent, according to Turkstat figures.

The deficit in first ten months of the year also declined, from $82.7 billion to $67.6 billion, an 18.32 percent drop from last year's figure.

October’s exports amounted to $12.9 billion, a 7.3 percent increase year-on-year, while imports declined to $19.2 billion, a 1.5 percent decrease.

Also, despite intensifying worries over the EU economy, Turkey’s exports to the European Union did not slacken, instead rising by 8.1 percent to $5.7 billion in October compared with $5.3 billion in the same month of 2013.

In The Anadolu Agency's "Foreign Trade Expectation Survey," economists have forecast Turkey’s foreign trade deficit in October to stand at $6.6 billion.