Page 26 - TURKRptOct20

products to construction materials that were due to expire on September 30 have been extended until the end of the year​, a presidential decision in the Official Gazette ​showed​ on September 24.
Higher tariffs would continue to be applied on some house appliances, spare parts used in the automotive sector and televisions until year-end, the announcement also specified.
Turkey is fighting a widening current account deficit, with the gap growing partly because the hit to demand across key export markets such as Germany caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
5.1.2 ​Current account dynamics
Turkey recorded a $22bn current account deficit in January-July versus a surplus of $2bn a year ago, balance of payments (BoP) data from the central bank ​showed​ on September 11.
The trade deficit jumped by $11bn y/y in the period with $6bn attributed to an increase in gold imports, while net services income declined by $14bn since travel (tourism) and transportation revenues were hit by the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
There was only a limited $2bn y/y recovery in primary income despite caps on dividends and a sharp decline in deposit rates.
From 2017 to 2019, outflows under the primary income account did not fall below $10bn.
The problem with the BoP data is that it lags by two months and we have already seen what happened in August while we are trying to identify what is taking place in September.
Turkey’s net income from tourism and passenger transport amounted to around $500mn in July in the BoP while the total number of international passengers served by Turkish airports rose to 3.8mn in August from 1.6mn (0.9mn foreign tourist arrivals) in July.
Sums of $500mn or $1bn are essentially peanuts for Turkey as it paid $4.16bn for gold imports in August.
Net outflows under the financial account were limited thanks to the central bank’s $10bn swap deal with Qatar.
26​ TURKEY Country Report​ October 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com