Türkiye’s Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati met with Saudi Arabian Trade Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi in Istanbul on Sunday and discussed bilateral relations.
Nebati, in a Twitter post, said the meeting with the Saudi trade minister was very productive.
“During our meeting, we evaluated economic, commercial and financial cooperation between our countries,” Nebati noted.
“We agreed with the minister to further develop our cooperation in these areas,” he added.
Türkiye and Saudi Arabia have this year moved to mend ties following years of tension, which escalated especially after the 2018 murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul Consulate.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Saudi Arabia in April, the first high-level visit in years. His trip was followed by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS) trip to Türkiye in June.
The two leaders also met last week on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.
Nebati’s meeting with the Saudi minister came as a large delegation led by Saudi Arabia’s investment minister is expected to arrive in Türkiye next month.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye are currently discussing a $5 billion deposit at the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT), according to a recent statement by a spokesperson from the Saudi Ministry of Finance.
"We are in final discussions to make a $5 billion deposit with the central bank of (Türkiye)," the spokesperson said in an emailed response to a Reuters query.
Türkiye's Treasury and Finance Ministry later confirmed that Saudi Arabia has reached the final stage in its $5 billion deposit account with the CBRT.
Ankara has been widening its options for foreign resources to backstop its policy of supporting the lira currency by balancing the economy's supply and demand for forex.
The CBRT already has a total of $28 billion in currency swap deals with the United Arab Emirates, China, Qatar and South Korea and bankers calculate around $23 billion to $24 billion are already in the Turkish central bank's reserves.
