Turkey posts highest February exports figure

ANKARA, TURKEY - MARCH 04: Turkey recorded its highest February exports figure, Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said on Monday. Turkish exports based on the special trade system rose 3.5 percent year-on-year to reach $13.6 billion in February, Pekcan told at a news conference in capital Ankara. Formed on general trade system, Turkey's exports last month amounted to $14.3 billion, increasing 3.7 percent on an annual basis, she said. The country's imports last month based on the general trade system fell 18.7 percent to hit some $16.2 billion, she added. "Thus, our exports in the first two months of this year rose 5 percent while imports slipped $23.1 billion [on a yearly basis]," Pekcan said. Calling the significant increase in exports-to-imports coverage ratio as the most important indicator of 2019, Pekcan said: "The exports-to-imports coverage ratio based on general trade system advanced to 88.6 percent in February, up from 69.4 percent in the same month last year." (Footage by Sakir Aksu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)