Caglayan: Turkey has the second largest growth in exports in 2012

Saying Turkey had the second largest growth in exports in 2012 all around the world, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said that Turkey's trade deficit shrank by 20.7% and fell to $84 billion. According to the data gathered from the Turkish Statistical Institute, Turkey's trade deficit shrank by 20.7 percent and fell to $84 billion although it was predicted as $85.7 according to the surveys conducted by CNBC-e. Exports rose to $152.561 billion with a rise of 13.1%, while imports shrank by 1.8% and fell back to $236.537 billion, Caglayan added. The ratio of exports to imports rose to 64.5%. The country's energy imports grew in parallel to figures foreseen by the Medium-Term Programme and grew to $60.1 billion in 2012, up 11.1% from $54.1 billion in 2011. The trade deficit was also at $7.18 billion in December with a fall of 11.6%. Caglayan stressed that Turkish exports scored $152.5 billion in 2012 and Turkey broke the export growth record in its history.