Minister Bolat evaluated the balance of payments data

Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat evaluated the balance of payments data on his social media account.

Bolat stated that as the government, they will resolutely continue policies to increase exports of goods and services and protect domestic producers and that they will strengthen macroeconomic stability by ensuring a stable course in the current account. He said, "The current account deficit, which was $591 million in May 2024, decreased to its lowest monthly level in the last 7 months with $684 million in the same month of this year. The annualized current account deficit, which was $19.8 billion in May 2024, became $16 billion in May. The annualized current account deficit decreased by approximately $3.8 billion in May compared to the same month of the previous year. Thus, the current account deficit in the first 5 months of 2025 was realized as $21 billion." Bolat emphasized that positive developments will be observed in the current account balance with strong increases in exports of goods and services during the summer months, stating, "It is expected that the current account deficit as a share of GDP at year-end will remain well below the historical average (2002-2024 average of 3.5 percent). In May, our goods exports increased by 2.6 percent to $24.8 billion, while our imports increased by 2.7 percent to $31.5 billion during the same period. Thus, we achieved the highest monthly export figures of all time. Our foreign trade deficit increased by 2.7 percent to $6.6 billion, and the export-import coverage ratio stood at 78.9 percent." “WE ARE DETERMINED TO MAINTAIN THE STABLE SITUATION” Emphasizing that service exports continue their strong trend, Bolat reported that service exports broke a record with $116.9 billion in May, increasing by 6.8 percent on an annualized basis compared to the same month of the previous year, while travel revenues reached $57.2 billion and transportation revenues reached $40.1 billion. Pointing out that the total annualized exports of goods and services increased by 3.3 percent compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching $382.3 billion, Bolat noted the following: “Despite the still flat course of annualized imports of the EU-27 and negative effects such as weak external demand, demand, tariff wars and hot wars, we are determined to maintain a stable current account balance. In this context, we expect external demand to continue to support macroeconomic stability.”