Two senior Turkish officials and a source told Reuters on Friday that Turkey and Qatar are in the final stages of negotiations under which Doha will provide Ankara with up to $10 billion in funding, including about $3 billion, by the end of this year.
And one official said that the overall financing could be in the form of swaps, international bonds or any other means, indicating that the leaders of Turkey and Qatar had discussed the matter.
Turkey’s central bank declined to comment on the issue.
The Turkish economy is under intense pressure in light of the depreciation of the lira and a rise in inflation of more than 85 percent. Agreements with the Gulf countries, if we talk about them, will support Turkey’s declining foreign exchange reserves.
Analysts say this could help Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan garner support ahead of elections scheduled for June next year.
The Central Bank of Turkey entered into swap deals in local currencies with several of its counterparties for a total of $28 billion.
He signed a $6 billion deal with China and about $5 billion with the UAE.