Newsletters
Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said Tuesday that the government's ongoing economic program continues to strengthen the country’s resilience and lay the groundwork for long-term, sustainable growth.
His remarks came in response to the balance of payments data for April released by the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT).
In a post shared on X, Simsek said Türkiye’s capacity to absorb external shocks has improved markedly under the current economic framework.
He added that the country has made significant progress toward achieving a more sustainable external balance.
“We are laying a solid foundation for sustainable high growth and lasting prosperity,” he wrote.
According to the central bank's figures, the country’s current account deficit widened to $7.86 billion in April, the largest monthly gap since February 2023. At the same time, the central bank’s net reserve losses rose to $25 billion, reaching a record high.
Simsek acknowledged that the annual current account deficit has increased as projected.
However, he noted that the deficit has narrowed by $39.3 billion compared to the launch of the reform program.
When excluding gold and energy—two highly volatile import categories—Türkiye posted an annual surplus of $49.5 billion.
The minister also underscored the continued strength of services exports, saying this sector plays a key role in supporting the current account balance, particularly amid mounting uncertainty in global goods trade.
“Thanks to the program we are implementing, our country’s resilience and capacity to withstand shocks have increased significantly, while meaningful gains have been achieved in maintaining a sustainable current account balance,” Simsek said.
“We are laying a solid foundation for sustainable high growth and lasting prosperity,” Simsek concluded.
2 min read
