ANKARA, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye's foreign trade deficit widened 51.4 percent year-on-year to 12.08 billion U.S. dollars in February, official data showed on Friday.

The imports surged by 10.1 percent and exports fell by 6.4 percent compared to the same month of last year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.

Türkiye's imports climbed to 30.7 billion dollars in February, while exports decreased to 18.7 billion dollars, the data showed.

The country's deficit in the first two months of 2023 surged 44.1 percent year-on-year to 26.33 billion dollars.

The Turkish government practices an economic model that pursues a current account surplus through higher exports and low interest rates, despite rising inflation and a depreciation in the local currency.