Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Şimşek, stated that they will continue to decrease the need for external financing and improve the quality of financing. Evaluating the payment balance data for January on his social media account, Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek noted that the annual current deficit in January was $11.5 billion. “We expect the current deficit we forecast to increase in the upcoming period to remain below 28.6 billion dollars, which is the estimate in the Medium-Term Program (MTP) for the whole year and below 2% of the national income, at a sustainable level,” he stated. Pointing out that the gross external financing need ratio to the national income improved by 5.4 points in the last two years due to the decrease in the current deficit, falling below the long-term average of 18.6%, he noted: “Thus, by significantly eliminating vulnerabilities related to the external balance, we have made our economy more resilient and stronger. We will continue to reduce the need for external financing and improve the quality of financing with sustainable current balance and long-term sources.”