Foreign deficit with EU down

Turkey reduces its foreign deficit

Turkey is rapidly reducing its foreign trade debt to the European Union, the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat), announced on Friday.

According to Eurostat figures, imports by Turkey from the EU were up 4 percent in the first quarter of 2007, and were recorded as 12.2 billion Euro.

On the other hand, Turkish exports to EU were up 15 percent in the same period, and Turkey earned 11.3 billion Euro from exports to EU member states.

Turkey's foreign trade deficit dropped to 800 million Euro in the first quarter of 2007, over to the same period of the previous year.

It was 1.7 billion Euro in the first quarter of 2006.

Turkey, which was the six biggest market of the EU in the first quarter of 2006, was ranked the fifth at the end of March this year, leaving Japan behind.

The EU reduced its foreign trade deficit, which was 56 billion Euro in the first quarter of the previous year, to 53.6 billion Euro this year.

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