Turkey Retail Sales Growth Improves In November

(RTTNews) - Turkey's retail sales continued to grow sharply in November and at a slightly slower pace compared to the previous month, the Turkish Statistical Institute said on Monday.

The volume of retail sales climbed 16.4 percent on a yearly basis in November, following a 15.5 percent growth in October.

Sales of non-food products, except automotive fuel, surged 21.9 percent annually in November, and those of food, drinks, and tobacco grew by 11.1 percent. Meanwhile, automotive fuel sales rose only 0.1 percent.

On a monthly basis, retail sales advanced 1.9 percent, faster than the 0.5 percent rise seen a month ago. Nonetheless, this was the sixth consecutive increase.

Elsewhere, Turkey's current account deficit widened to $2.87 billion in November from $2.62 billion in the corresponding month last year, data published by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey showed.

The current account, excluding gold and energy, indicated a net surplus of $3.4 billion. Meanwhile, the goods deficit rose to $5.23 billion from $4.47 billion.