Turkey's trade deficit probably narrowed in December from a year earlier as weaker demand at home and cheaper oil and gas reduced the import bill, Bloomberg reported.
The shortfall shrank to $3.9 billion from $6.4 billion in December 2007, the fourth consecutive contraction, according to the median estimate of 12 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The statistics office in Ankara is due to report the data at 5 p.m. on Jan. 30.
Turkish consumer confidence hit a record low in November as economic growth slowed and the global credit crunch forced the government to look to the International Monetary Fund for a loan. A slump in energy prices is also helping to reduce the cost of imports.
"Exports fell seriously and imports probably declined even faster," said Sengul Dagdeviren, chief economist at ING Bank AS in Istanbul. "It's just the latest proof of the halt in economic activity."
Growth slowed to 0.5 percent in the third quarter of 2008, the slowest pace since 2002.
Economy Minister Mehmet Simsek will brief the Cabinet today on progress in talks with the IMF, Simsek's spokeswoman Sibel Tokgoz said on Jan. 23. The money is needed to bridge an expected shortfall in foreign currency financing this year.
Central bank governor Durmus Yilmaz will announce the bank's latest forecasts for inflation at 10 a.m. today. The bank on Jan. 15 cut its benchmark interest rate by two percentage points to a record low of 13 percent, saying the economic slowdown has removed inflationary pressures.
The benchmark stock index fell 3.3 percent last week to 24,781.83. The lira weakened 1.6721 to the dollar from 1.6300. The yield on the benchmark lira bond tracked by ABN Amro rose to 15.26 percent from 15.06 percent.