Turkish foreign trade deficit narrows 63% as imports slump

Turkey posted a foreign trade deficit of $2.13 billion in February, a decrease of 63 percent from the same month a year earlier.

The deficit narrowed from $5.79 billion in February 2018, as imports contracted by 17 percent to $15.7 billion and exports increased by 3.4 percent to $13.6 billion, the Turkish Statistical Institute said on Friday. Exports covered 86 percent of imports.

Turkey’s foreign trade deficit is shrinking markedly after a currency crisis last year slashed the lira’s value against the dollar by almost one third, crimping demand for imports and making exports cheaper. The crisis also sent the economy into a recession in the second half of the year.