Two informed officials said that Qatar is expected to buy Turkish international bonds worth two billion dollars next month, in implementation of a previous agreement aimed at supporting Ankara’s foreign exchange reserves.
The two Turkish economic officials, who asked not to be named, added that Doha had already invested around $1 billion as part of the broader agreement.
Total investment of ten billion dollars
Archyde.com previously reported in November that Turkey and Qatar were in talks about Doha providing financing of up to $10 billion, including up to $3 billion, by the end of this year.
The Qatari government has not yet responded to a request for comment. It was also not possible to obtain comment from the Turkish Treasury.
“With the expected two billion dollars in the first weeks of January, we will have achieved the initial plan of two to three billion dollars, out of a total investment of ten billion dollars,” one of the officials told Archyde.com.
High inflation and the stability of the Turkish lira
Qatar has strong relations with Turkey. Ankara provided support to Doha when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt boycotted it in 2017 due to a dispute that was resolved last year.
The funding comes just in time for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is preparing for elections that are likely to be tight in May or June, and high inflation is one of the main campaign issues.
The influx of foreign financing this year helped the government maintain the stability of the lira in the past months, while annual inflation began to decline after it exceeded 85 percent.
This month, the Turkish Treasury announced the issuance of a $2 billion dollar-denominated international bond, 55 percent of which was bought by Middle Eastern investors.
The second official told Archyde.com that Qatar did not contribute as much to the issuance of international bonds in December as it had planned, after high demand from other parties.
“A new issuance is being planned in the first week of the year and Qatar is expected to buy about $2 billion from it. The rest of the money is expected to flow during 2023,” the source said.