ISTANBUL (Dow Jones)--Turkish Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said Wednesday that the country's energy imports will amount to $52 billion in 2008, compared with $34 billion in 2007, the Ihlas News Agency, or IHA, reported.
"Turkey would have a current account surplus if it did not have to buy energy from abroad," Unakitan said at a groundbreaking ceremony of 61 hydro-electric power plants.
Rising global energy prices lead to increases in Turkey's current account deficit, which is considered the weakest point of its economy.
The current account deficit increased to $16.885 billion in January-April from $12.488 billion in the same period last year. In 2007, the current account deficit widened 18% on the year to $38 billion