ANKARA: Turkey’s exports advanced by 8.2 percent to $77.5 billion while imports increased by 8.7 percent to $108.3 billion in the January-June period of this year. In the said period, the usage of the Turkish lira in exports increased by 102 percent from around $3.69 billion to around $7.46 billion. In the same period, the amount of dollars used in exports increased by 0.1 percent to $30.9 billion, while the amount of euros increased by 5.3 percent from around $34.46 billion to around $36.27 billion. The Turkish lira was recorded as the currency with the highest increase in exports. Exports in Turkish lira increased by 102 percent to $7.5 billion, while imports rose by 24.7 percent to $8.6 billion in the first half of this year compared to the same period of last year. Moreover, Turkey’s foreign trade deficit also narrowed in June of this year with a 9.1 percent decrease when compared to the same period last year.
According to the data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), work on increasing the usage of the Turkish lira in foreign trade initiated by the call and instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continue to give positive results. While the share of the Turkish lira in total exports in the January-June period of the previous year was 5.1 percent, the rate rose to 9.7 percent in the same period of this year. In the first half of this year, the use of the Turkish lira in imports increased by 24.7 percent compared to the same period of last year and exceeded $8.56 billion. In the mentioned period, the use of the euro in imports decreased by 1.9 percent, while the dollar use increased by 12.4 percent. In the January-June period of last year, 6.9 percent of total imports of $99.7 billion were realized with the Turkish lira, while imports corresponding to 7.9 percent were imported with the Turkish lira this year. In the said period, the share of the Turkish lira in the total foreign trade rose from 6.2 percent to 8.6 percent and the amount exceeded $16 billion.
