Turkish State Minister Tuzmen Says Slow Down In Exports In August Is Seasonal

ANKARA - Slow down in rate of increase in exports in August was seasonal, Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said on Friday.
Tuzmen told A.A correspondent that August was the time of the year when many European countries, where Turkey made its highest exports, spent their holidays.
Europe's imports had shrunk, and the effects of this shrinkage were also observed in August, Tuzmen said.
Recalling that monthly exports decreased below 5 billion U.S. dollars in August, Tuzmen said, ''in September and October, deficit is closed, and exportation gained speed. But, in fact, it was not easy to catch such a rise in exports with this extreme valuable currency. But, exporters achieved this.''

-CURRENT (ACCOUNTS) DEFICIT-

Referring to the seven-month current (accounts) deficit which exceeded 10 billion U.S. dollars, Tuzmen commented, ''I consider it very normal. That is, current deficit is discussed very much, but as I have said, this current deficit stems from extreme valuable Turkish lira (TL). That is, our importation is more, but exportation is less. Therefore, it is very normal to have a current deficit in this country.''
Tuzmen said that too rapid increases and decreases in the currency were not good, and added, ''the currency should have a reasonable level in order to be advantageous in exports and reduce this extreme pressure on imports.''
The previous day, Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM) had announced that exports from Turkey increased by 22.1 percent to 4.7 billion U.S. dollars in August of 2004 when compared with August of 2003.
(BRC-AÖ) 03.09.2004