Turkey's C/A deficit seen at $2.2bn in April

ISTANBUL: Turkey's current account is expected to show a deficit of $2.2 billion in April, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday, while the deficit for the full year is expected to narrow compared to 2020 despite a slump in tourism.

Turkey's import-reliant economy, worth $717 billion in 2020, has been prone to big trade deficits and a boom-bust growth cycle that was exacerbated by last year's pandemic.

The current account recorded a deficit of $36.72 billion in 2020 due mostly to a sharp rise in the trade deficit and plunging tourism revenues due to coronavirus fallout.

The median estimate in a Reuters poll of 11 economists showed a deficit of $2.2 billion in April, with estimates ranging between deficits of $1.95 billion and $3.3 billion.

A major component of the current account, the trade deficit narrowed 33.2% year-on-year to $3.058 billion in April, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.

Turkey also relies on foreign currency income from tourism to shore up its current account, which is expected to help record a narrower deficit compared to last year.

But a recent travel ban from several countries due to the pandemic means Turkey is likely to lose part of that income this year as well.

The median estimate for the full-year deficit was $25 billion, in a range of $23 billion to $29.09 billion.

Turkey's 12-month current account ended 2019 in surplus for the first time since 2001, though the monthly reading dipped back towards the end of the year as the economy recovered from a recession brought on by a 2018 currency crisis.

The central bank is scheduled to announce the April current account data at 0700 GMT on June 14.