Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has provided an assessment of the country's foreign trade data, highlighting key financial trends and expectations for the remainder of the year.

In a statement on X, Şimşek reported a portfolio inflow of $5.8 billion in the first four months of the year. He expressed optimism about future international direct investments, attributing this to strategic steps taken under the current economic program.

"The favorable course in external financing inflows continued," Şimşek noted. He pointed out a significant improvement compared to the previous year, where there was a net outflow of $1.5 billion in portfolio investments during the first four months, compared to a net inflow of $5.8 billion in the same period this year.

The annual current account deficit slightly increased to $31.5 billion in April, primarily due to a rise in the foreign trade deficit influenced by the holiday period. However, Şimşek anticipates the current account deficit to stabilize between $24-27 billion for the rest of the year, which would be significantly lower than the Medium Term Program (MTP) forecast of $34.7 billion by year-end.

Şimşek also highlighted the positive trends in external debt rollover ratios. For the banking sector, these ratios increased from 90% to 158%, and for the non-bank private sector, from 72% to 116%.

"We expect an increase in international direct investments thanks to the steps we have taken under our program," Şimşek reiterated, emphasizing the government's ongoing efforts to strengthen Turkey's economic position on the global stage. (ILKHA)