A spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Finance said, on Tuesday, that Saudi Arabia and Turkey are discussing Riyadh’s deposit of five billion dollars in the Turkish Central Bank.
“We are in discussion in the final stage of depositing five billion US dollars in the (Turkish) central bank,” the spokesman said in an email response to a Archyde.com query.
The Turkish Central Bank declined to comment on the matter. A well-informed Turkish official said discussions are in their final stage with Saudi Arabia over a swap or deposit agreement.
The Turkish economy is under severe pressure in light of the lira’s decline and inflation rising by more than 85 percent. A swap or deposit agreement would support Turkey’s diminishing foreign currency reserves.
Analysts indicated that this may help President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mobilize support before the elections scheduled for next June.
Turkey’s central bank has concluded swap deals in local currencies with several of its counterparts with a total value of $28 billion.
He signed a deal with China worth six billion dollars, with Qatar worth $15 billion, and with the UAE regarding five billion dollars.
The talks between the central banks of the two countries come following the joint efforts of Ankara and Riyadh to strengthen relations that were damaged by the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
