Turkey increases exports in May

Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said on Friday Turkey increased its exports to all regions with the exception of the Middle East and Far East. Caglayan said in a written statement Turkey's exports reached $13.3 billion, imports $23.3 billion and exports coverage of imports was 57.4 percent in May while exports reached $62.8 billion, imports $104.8 billion and exports coverage of imports was 60 percent between January and May. "As I have always said gold is one of the products we both export and import. We imported and exported gold worth respectively $2.2 billion and $695 million in May. More than 45 tons of gold were imported in April," said Caglayan. Caglayan said Turkey's exports surged by 2.9 percent in the first five months of 2013 and nearly 40 percent of exports were to the EU adding Turkey increased its exports despite the financial crisis in the EU and the disadvantages of the Arab Spring. Caglayan said they expected 2013 to be a volatile year and Turkey would reach exports worth $158 billion in its medium-term program target.