Page 13 - TURKRptFeb20

Fitch Ratings said in late November that Turkey’s current account balance strengthened to a surplus of $5.9bn in the 12 months to September 2019. The rating agency at the same time forecast a gradual worsening to a deficit of 0.3% of GDP in 2019 and 0.9% of GDP in 2020, but those ratios would still be well below 2018’s deficit of 3.5% and 2017's 5.6%. The country’s external financing requirement had continued to ease somewhat, but remained large and a source of vulnerability at close to $170bn due to private sector debt repayments, said Fitch, adding that Turkey’s gross FX reserves had risen $8.1bn so far in 2019 but remained relatively low.
Since October, a rise in imports has been observed along with a renewed loan growth cycle .
Due to lira depreciation, talk of a recovery in exports dominated analysis across 2019 but a distinct recovery in the export performance has not in fact been visible .
13 TURKEY Country Report OUTLOOK 2020 www.intellinews.com