New record in foreign trade deficit

Commerce Minister Mehmet Muş announced foreign trade data for the first month of the year.

Muş said: “Our exports continued the momentum they had achieved last year in the first month of this year as well and reached the highest export figures for January. In January, our exports increased 10.4 percent compared to the same period of the previous year and reached 19.4 billion dollars.

Muş announced that imports amounted to US$33.7 billion in January with an annual increase of 21 percent due to the sharp increase in energy and raw material prices.

The increase in gold imports was also effective in this increase.

The foreign trade deficit, for its part, reached a record level of 14.3 billion dollars in January 2023.

PARITY FOR LOSS OF 500 MILLION DOLLARS IN JANUARY

Noting that the negative impact of the parity on the foreign trade figures continues, Muş said: “In January, around 500 million USD worth of less exports were made due to the parity effect.”

LOSSES MADE FROM EUROPE WILL BE MADE WITH THE GULF COUNTRIES

Saying: “We are in for a difficult period in the global economy in the coming period,” Muş said, “Weak demand, especially in the European economies, which is our largest trading partner, poses a risk to our exports. We continue our efforts to make Turkey the first choice in supplying goods and services to the Gulf countries, whose income and therefore demand increases with rising energy prices.”