Iran, Secret Gold and the Mystery Trade Boosting Turkish Exports
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Turkey’s trade balance, one of the few points for solace in this year’s worst performing bond market, might not be improving as much as the data appears to show.
Despite having no significant gold deposits, exports of the precious metal made up 70 percent of the narrowing in the current account gap, according to government data published Friday. A gold importer for 28 of last 30 years, Turkey became an exporter in 2012 when it started paying for Iranian gas in precious metals as a way of circumventing international sanctions that may soon be lifted.