Turkey may report a current account deficit of $1.7 billion for January, narrower than the $1.98 billion shortfall reported for the same month of 2020, according to a survey by the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Estimates in the poll of 12 economists ranged between deficits of $1.2 billion and $2.7 billion, Anadolu reported on Tuesday.
Turkey’s central bank has hiked interest rates sharply to help defend the lira, slow inflation and tame a borrowing boom engineered by the government last year. Demand for loans and lira instability stoked demand for imported goods and gold, widening the current account deficit to $36.7 billion, or 5.1 percent of GDP in 2020.
The January deficit was expected to narrow from the $3.21 billion shortfall reported for December, according to the poll.
The Turkish Statistical Institute is due to publish January current account figures on Thursday, according to a calendar published on its website.
Ahval