Mubasher: Turkey’s current account gap shrank in March to almost a tenth of the deficit recorded a year earlier, as imports saw a sharp decline, official data showed on Monday.

Turkish current account, the broadest gauge of trade and investment, recorded a deficit of $589 million in March, contracting year-on-year by $4.145 billion, the Central Bank of Turkey (CBRT) revealed.

This brought the 12-month rolling gap to $12.829 billion, down from $17 billion in February.

Faster drops in the Turkish lira (TRY) and fading demand for the goods from consumers and businesses curtailed imports.

The lira lost 28% of its value against the US dollar last year, while during March alone, it fell by 4.2%, all of which made imports more expensive to purchase.

Omitting gold and energy, the current account posted $3.477 billion in surplus during the month, compared with a deficit of $573 million a year ago, the CBRT said.

The central bank’s foreign reserves declined by $5.73 billion last March, as policy makers continued to support the Turkish currency ahead of the 31 March local elections.

By 11:17 am GMT, the USD/TRY pair climbed 2.40% to TRY 6.1263.