Roundup: Turkey's trade continues to bleed, oppositions blame foreign polices

Turkey's trade volume has continued to post a decline in its third year now with the sharpest drop recorded in January with a minus 20.5 percent compared to that of the same period last year.

Turkey, an emerging market, has reached its peak volume of trade in 2013 with a record 404 billion U.S. dollars in the combined value of its exports and imports.

Yet, it has started to slide back since then, dropping to 400 billion dollars in 2014, and 351 billion in 2015.

The steepest decline was in January when the volume went down to 23 billion dollars, down from 29 billion dollars in January of 2015.

The trade continued to bleed in February, according to the official government statistics, with a further 4.1 percent.

Turkey's Development Ministry projected in the revised Medium-term Economic Program (OVP) that the trade volume will be 366 billion dollars by the end of 2016 and 419 billion the next.

However, looking at the downward slope on the trade volume in consecutive months, it seems highly unlikely for Turkey to realize projected volume this year.

The opposition in Turkey blames the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government for the decline in the country's trade because of wrong policies with its neighbors and partners.

"Out of 18 neighbors Turkey has over land and sea borders, their share in Turkey's trade volume reduced from 40 percent to as low as 25 percent," Umut Iran, former lawmaker with the main opposition Republican Peoples' Party (CHP) said.

He added that the lack of dialogue, stability and friendship in foreign policy has negative impact on economy and foreign trade.

The official figures for March are not available but the preliminary data on Tuesday from the Turkish Customs and Trade Ministry suggested the pace of decline has tapered off.

The trade volume decreased by 1.8 percent in March to 30.6 billion dollars.

Turkey's Economy Minister Mustafa Elitas told reporters on Wednesday in The Hague that the Central Bank must slash interest rates to open the way for business people.

"Our share in the global trade is less than one percent," he lamented, urging the bank to reduce interest rates dramatically.

EXPORTS, IMPORTS IN DECLINE

In terms of exports, Turkey has posted a slight increase of 1.4 percent in February on month-to-month comparison, following a five-month consecutive slump with the sharpest decline recorded in January with 22.3 percent.

The Turkish exports were 157.6 billion dollars in 2014 before getting hit by an 8.7 percent drop in 2015, declining to 143.9 billion dollars.

The unofficial data for the March, announced by Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM), indicated an increase in exports by 2.6 percent.

"Our exports are again on the rise," Mehmet Buyukeksi, the president of TIM, said.

The automotive industry was the driver of exports in Turkey, followed by ready-made garments and chemical industries.

"The consecutive rises in a period of two months has boosted the morale of exporters," Buyukeksi noted.

Despite the slight increases in the last two months, the January-March period showed a decline of 9.8 percent this year compared to the same period in 2015.

Turkey has taken a hit in its exports especially after troubled ties with Russia, one of top 10 export markets, following the shooting down of a Russian jet on Turkish-Syrian border last year.

Moscow slapped sanctions on Turkish exports, especially a ban on agricultural products.

In January-February period, Turkey's export to Russia was down by 62 percent.

On Wednesday, Turkey's former President Abdullah Gul called on resolving the two nations' differences as soon as possible.

On the positive side, the drop in Turkey's imports have helped the government reduce its current account deficit.

Turkey's total imports reduced by 14.4 percent last year to 207.2 billion, down from 242.2 billion dollars.

The drop continued in January and February with 19.2 percent and 8.1 percent on month-to-month comparison.

Unofficial data for March revealed another decline by 5.1 percent, corresponding to a decline of 21.3 in Turkey's current account deficit. Endit