Turkish Trade Gap Narrows In July

(RTTNews) - Turkey's foreign trade deficit decreased in July from a year ago as exports grew faster than imports, the Turkish Statistical Institute reported Thursday.

The trade deficit narrowed to $6.44 billion in July from $7.31 billion in the same month last year. The shortfall totaled $8.21 billion in June.

Excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, the foreign trade shortfall was $2.18 billion.

Exports registered an annual increase of 11.0 percent, and imports rose by 5.4 percent.

The main partner country for exports during July was Germany, followed by the UK, the USA, the UAE, and Italy. Meanwhile, the top import source was China, followed by Russia and Germany.

Separate official data showed that Turkey's economic confidence index improved to 97.9 in August from 96.3 in July. The morale strengthened in consumers, manufacturing, services, and retail trade.