ISTANBUL: Turkey's trade deficit widened more than expected in November, as exports were hit by crises in Russia and Iraq and stagnant demand in the European Union, official data showed on Wednesday.
The trade deficit grew to $8.32 billion from $7.21 billion in November 2013 as exports fell 7.5 percent to $13.13 billion with imports almost flat, the Turkish Statistics Institute said. The trade deficit exceeded a Reuters forecast of $7.8 billion.
While exports were hit by an economic slump in Russia and the Islamic State insurgency in Iraq, imports were buoyed by a surge in gold buying. Gold imports were almost 47 tonnes in November from October's 6.6 tonnes, as falling prices boosted demand.
In the first eleven months of the year, the trade deficit fell 15.5 percent to $76 billion. The recent sharp decline in oil prices was expected to benefit the trade balance in the coming year.
"We forecast the deficit falling to below 4 percent of GDP in 2015 (from an expected 5.7 percent this year) mainly thanks to the decline in oil prices which will offset a contraction in exports due to geopolitical tensions and a low level of growth in the euro zone," Inanc Sozer, chief economist at Odeabank, said.
Energy supplier Russia overtook China as Turkey's biggest source of imports in November, with imports worth just over $2 billion dollars.
Turkish markets largely shrugged off the trade data. The main equities index rose 0.36 percent to 84,537 by 1033 GMT, in line with emerging markets which were up 0.35 percent.
The lira stood at 2.3275 against the dollar, slightly weaker from 2.3245 late on Tuesday but around the same level as immediately before the data release.
The benchmark 10-year government bond yield inched up to 7.98 percent on Wednesday compared to 7.96 percent at Tuesday's close.
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