Monday, August 29, 2022

What's behind Turkey's Ballooning Trade Deficit | DW Business

Aug 29, 2022 As Russia's invasion of Ukraine grinds on, its impact continues to be felt far beyond Ukraine's borders. In Turkey, the war has cast a shadow over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's economic ambitions.

Turkey's trade deficit has ballooned over the last seven months on the back of rising commodity prices. In July, the monthly gap reached almost 11 billion dollars, which is a record level. The imbalance between imports and exports from January through July was 144 percent higher than a year earlier, according to Turkey’s state statistics agency. Add to that the rapid depreciation of the lira, and Turkey's problems don't look set to end soon.