ANKARA, May 30: Turkey’s trade deficit widened by 17.8 per cent to $12.1 billion in the first four months of 2005 from $10.3 billion in the same period last year, the state statistics institute said on Monday.

Imports climbed 21.9pc to $35.2bn, while exports increased by 24.1pc to $23.1bn, it said. In April alone, imports rose by 19.3 per cent to $9.5 billion and exports climbed by 16.4 per cent to $5.9 billion.

The embattled Turkish lira has steadily regained value over the past two years as the economy emerged from a severe crisis that erupted in 2001. The government, buoyed by improving macroeconomic indicators under a recovery program backed by the International Monetary Fund, wiped off six zeroes from the currency on January 1 in a major money reform.—AFP