Trade Minister Ömer Bolat announced the October foreign trade figures at a press conference in Antalya with Mustafa Gültepe, President of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM).
Bolat reminded that the Republic Day in October coincided with the working week, while last year it coincided with the weekend, and pointed out that despite this negative calendar effect, exports increased.
“In October, we broke the record for the highest October exports in the history of the Republic. Our exports exceeded 23 billion 600 million dollars with an increase of 3.6 percent compared to the same month of last year,” Bolat said:
“Last year, October exports amounted to 22.8 billion dollars. Our exporters achieved an increase of more than 800 million dollars. In October, our exports excluding gold and energy increased by 8.6% compared to the same month of the previous year and amounted to 22.2 billion dollars. Thus, the highest monthly export record excluding gold and energy in the history of the Republic was broken in October. In the first 10 months of 2024, our exports of goods increased from 209.7 billion dollars to 216.4 billion dollars. Thus, we increased our exports of goods by 6.7 billion dollars in 10 months of this year.”
He condemned the terrorist attack at TAI and wished God's mercy to the martyrs who lost their lives in the attack and a speedy recovery to the wounded.
Pointing out that TAI has achieved very important successes in the defence industry, Bolat said that the defence and aerospace industry, with its employment of more than 90,000 people, annual production of USD 12 billion and exports of USD 5.5 billion to 185 different countries, has brought Turkey a very important reputation and prestige.
Bolat said that they expect at least USD 6.5 billion worth of exports in the defence industry this year, and that the rate of localization and self-sufficiency, which was 20% in 2002, has increased to over 80% in 2023.
Underlining that the decline in the foreign trade deficit contributed positively to macroeconomic stability and economic growth, Bolat said:
“As in the first 8-9 months of this year, we are pleased to see that the balancing in our foreign trade continued in October. This success was achieved despite the great recession in the global economy and the European Union. We believe that the demand for our country's export products will increase even more with the interest rate cuts in Europe and the USA in the coming period. We hope that the upward momentum that started in exports in September-October will continue in November-December. In the second quarter of 2024, 1.3% points of the 2.5% growth came from net exports of goods and services. We see that confidence indices are gradually increasing in our economy.”
"The decrease trend in imports continues"
Stating that the downward trend in gold and energy exports continued in October as in September, Bolat said that they expect these figures to be upward again after November.
Pointing out that the downward trend in imports continued, Minister Bolat said:
“October imports decreased by 0.1% to 29 billion 364 million dollars, a decrease of 43 million dollars, but the decrease in our monthly foreign trade deficit continues as our exports increased by 800 million dollars. In October 2024, our foreign trade deficit was realized as 5.7 billion dollars with an annual decrease of 13%. In October 2023, a foreign trade deficit of 6.6 billion dollars was recorded. We see that our foreign trade deficit has decreased in 12 of the last 15 months. In October 2024, the ratio of exports to imports increased by 3% points to 80.4%. Our 10-month imports decreased by 7.2% to 282 billion dollars.”
Bolat continued his words as follows:
“In the first 10 months, we have saved approximately 22 billion dollars in goods imports. In the first 10 months of 2024, the foreign trade deficit decreased by 30.4% to 65.6 billion dollars. In the first 10 months of 2023, the foreign trade deficit was 94.3 billion dollars. Our goal is to keep this deficit below 80 billion dollars. The ratio of exports to imports increased by nearly 8% points from 69% to 76.7%. In October 2024, our annualized exports increased by 3.1% to 262.3 billion dollars. This is a record figure in the history of the Republic.”
“We reduced annualized imports to 340 billion dollars”
Minister Bolat reminded that annualized imports were 367.2 billion dollars in October last year, and said that it has now dropped to 340 billion dollars.
Stating that the annualized foreign trade deficit in the last 12 months as of October was 77.7 billion dollars, decreasing by 35.1 billion dollars compared to the same month last year, Minister Bolat stated that the annualized export-to-import ratio was 77.2% in October 2024.
Bolat said, “These figures mean that our need for foreign currency has decreased, showing that the foreign exchange problem has disappeared for the moment. We know that the gross and net reserves of our Central Bank are increasing rapidly. Last night, Standard & Poor's (S&P) upgraded Turkey's credit rating, and in the last one year, there have been two rating increases from all credit rating agencies. Hopefully, when we meet in 2 months, we will share positive and beautiful pictures regarding the export figures of goods and services for 2024.”
“As of October, we estimate that the last 12 months of our services exports will reach 112.5 billion dollars”
Pointing out that services trade is also a shining sector, Bolat reminded that last year closed with 106 billion dollars in services exports.
Bolat said, “We had set a service export target of 110 billion dollars for this year, and when the balance of payments table for October is announced, we expect 97 billion dollars of service exports in the first 10 months. In the foreign trade of services, which gave a surplus of 56 billion dollars last year, we estimate that as of October, the last 12 months of our services exports will reach 112.5 billion dollars. We will exceed our target there as well.”
Reminding that the current account deficit in foreign trade has decreased, Bolat made the following assessments:
“Instead of being happy about this, they say, 'Imports of consumer goods are increasing. We see that there is an increase in the number of those who want to export gold by bringing semi-finished products in the form of some jewelry. It is futile to try to overshadow the success of all of us by saying that imports of consumer goods are increasing. In addition, it is said that 'this happened because the economy slowed down', but the economy has slowed down, but there is a balancing and adjustment process. The foreign trade deficit has decreased, the foreign exchange has stabilized, there is no exchange rate explosion, the Central Bank's coffers are full. I say this to those who are always looking for negativity when they should be rejoicing in these things.”
“For example, the current account deficit is no longer a problem. In the January-August period of 2024, it was recorded as 9.7 billion dollars with a 75.2% decrease compared to the same period of the previous year.” Bolat commented, ”We expect the improvement in the current account deficit on an annualized basis to continue throughout 2024. In October 2024, we expect the annualized current account deficit to decline to the range of 9-10 billion dollars.”
Trade Minister Ömer Bolat pointed out that 90.2 billion exports were made to the EU in the January-October period and said, “We have 22 billion dollars of exports to Balkan countries. There is a significant increase in our exports to Bulgaria this year. The top five countries to which we exported the most in the January-October period were Germany, the USA, the United Kingdom, Iraq and Italy, respectively. There is an increase of 2.3 billion dollars in our exports to the UK, and our exports to Saudi Arabia are increasing rapidly.”
Bolat concluded his words as follows:
“Israel ranks first in decreases. With the data of the first four months, there is a 67% decrease, but there has not been a dollar of trade with Israel since May 2. However, for the Palestinian side and the Palestinian state, we issue export permits for the products officially requested by the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy, under the control of the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy, provided that the destination is Palestine and the buyer is Palestinians. Considering that 6 million people living in Palestine made 25% of their imports from Turkey before October 7, we do not remain silent to the economic and commercial demands of the Palestinian state. Turkey has been the country that has helped Palestine the most in the world and ensured its survival.”
Following the announcement of the data, Minister Bolat attended the TIM Workshop, which was closed to the press.
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