A Saudi Finance Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia and Turkey were in discussions about Riyadh’s $5 billion deposit with the Turkish Central Bank.
“We are in discussions in the final stage of depositing five billion US dollars with the (Turkish) central bank,” the spokesman said in an email response to a question from Reuters.
The Turkish central bank declined to comment on the matter. A well-informed Turkish official said talks are in the final stage with Saudi Arabia on a swap or deposit deal.
Turkey’s economy is under severe pressure in light of the lira’s decline and inflation rising by more than 85%. A swap or deposit deal would support Turkey’s dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
Analysts have indicated that this could help President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mobilize support ahead of elections scheduled for next June.
The Turkish central bank has concluded swap agreements in local currencies with several of its counterparties for a total value of 28 billion dollars.
He signed a deal with China worth six billion dollars, with Qatar worth $15 billion and with the United Arab Emirates around five billion dollars.
The talks between the two countries’ central banks come after joint efforts by Ankara and Riyadh to strengthen relations that had been damaged by the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
