Turkey’s current account balance registered a $5.15 billion deficit in February, widening $2.71 billion year-over-year, according to official data released on Monday.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) said the country's 12-month rolling deficit stood at $21.84 billion in February.

The goods trade deficit rose by $3.9 billion annually to reach $6 billion.

Services items showed a net surplus of $1.61 billion, increasing $874 million year-over-year.

The gold- and energy-excluded current account posted a $2.17 billion surplus in February, up from a surplus of $624 million the same month of last year.

Economists surveyed by Anadolu Agency (AA) Finance expected a deficit of $5.6 billion in the current account in February.

Meanwhile, the current account deficit for January was revised from $7.1 billion to $6.9 billion.

The CBRT data further showed that some $4 million inflow was recorded from direct investments in February, while a net outflow of $765 million was realized from portfolio investments.

Analyzed by sub-items, nonresidents made net sales of $228 million in the stock market and $573 million in the government domestic debt securities market in February.

Banks repaid $551 million and the central government’s net use was $1 billion, regarding bond issuances abroad.

The effective and deposit assets of domestic banks in their foreign correspondents increased by $2.1 billion in February. Domestic deposits of foreign banks increased by $495 million in foreign currency and TL 1.9 billion in the national currency.

Banks and the central government realized a net repayment of $911 million and $174 million, respectively, while other sectors realized a net use of $244 million.

Official reserves decreased by $2.2 billion in February.