It is reported that Turkey reached its highest monthly export figure in the history of the Republic in May 2019. Exports went up to US$ 16 billion 813 million in said month corresponding to an increase of 11.46 percent as compared to same month last year.
Concerned figures were provided by Ms. PEKCAN, Minister of Trade who shared in a written statement that despite the slowdown in world trade Turkey continued to break new records in exports every month. The Minister noted the country had indeed broken a new record in the history of the republic, in May 2019 as well, based on data according to the General Trade System (GTS). GTS data is preferred by major economies in the world for statistics purposes and it covers data for trade in trade zones and warehouses.
Minister PEKCAN also noted that exports in the first five months of 2019 had increased by 5.37 percent to US$ 76.6 billion adding that imports on the other hand had decreased to US$ 18 billion 588 million corresponding to 19.85 percent decline compared to the same period of the previous year.
PEKCAN noted that the foreign trade deficit had thus decreased to US$1 billion 774 dollars in May with a decline of 78.11 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. Turkey’s foreign trade deficit was US$ 8 billion 108 million in May last year. Thus the foreign trade volume of the country decreased to US$ 35.4 billion, by 7.51 percent.
PEKCAN also stated that the rapid decline in the foreign trade deficit in 2019 had made a strategic contribution to the economy by reducing the external financing need of the economy. She said “In other words, the foreign financing requirement of our country decreased by USD 25.5 billion compared to the same period of the previous year.
She also added the ratio of exports to imports, which was 65 percent in May 2018, had risen to 90.5 percent in May 2019. The Minister said that the ratio of exports to imports increased from 66.9 percent to 87.9 percent in the first 5-month period of 2019.
