ANKARA - Turkey`s trade deficit rose by 29.1 percent to 30.3 billion dollars (23.6 billion euros) in the first seven months of 2006 from 23.5 billion dollars in the same period of last year, the Turkish Statistics Institute announced Thursday.
Imports increased by 18.8 percent to 76.8 billion dollars, outstripping exports which rose by 13.0 percent to 46.4 billion dollars between January and July.
In July, imports climbed by 19.3 percent to 11.4 billion dollars and exports increased by 19.2 percent to 6.8 billion dollars.
The country`s trade deficit increased by 24.9 percent in 2005, reaching 42.9 billion dollars from 34.3 billion dollars in 2004.
The Turkish lira has steadily gained value over the past two years as the economy emerged from a severe financial crisis, leading to complaints by the business community that the currency`s revival is undermining exports.
08/31/2006 14:31 GMT