By Joshua Kirby
Turkey's current account swung to a surplus in September, boosted by a continued surge in tourism.
The current account booked a surplus of $1.88 billion compared with a deficit of $357 million a month before, according to figures released Monday by the Turkish central bank. It marks the first surplus since June, and only the second in the last two years.
The summer tourism season continued to bring in foreign currency in September, contributing more than $5 billion of a services surplus of $6.25 billion. The country's goods deficit on the other hand continue to see a deficit, at $3.66 billion, though this narrowed from the previous month.
A weak Turkish lira has steadily pushed up import prices in recent years, fuelling rampant inflation and weighing on the trade balance.
The central bank has lifted interest rates markedly in recent months, aiming to put a brake on the decline of the lira, and inflation eased a little in October following months of renewed rises.
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-13-23 0230ET
