Turkey runs current account surplus in September

ANKARA

Turkey ran a current account surplus of $95 million in September, down from $2.4 billion in the same month of the previous year

It was the second time Turkey has registered a current account surplus since 2009.

The 12-month rolling current account deficit stood at $40.6 billion, or about 5 percent of GDP.

"Improving economic activity combined with low commodities and energy prices to build the surplus," commented Bora Tamer Yilmaz, an economist with Ziraat Securities in Istanbul.

Improving Turkish trade volumes, and the low-valued Turkish lira, also contributed to building the surplus, Yilmaz added. "This is an important change for Turkey which usually runs a wide deficit," he said.

Economist Haluk Burumcekci, formerly with Burgan Securities, said that the current account is also improved when energy and gold are stripped out.

Burumcekci forecast that the end-of-year deficit would stand at about $36 billion. "But the slow recovery in Europe could worsen this scenario," he added.