Türkiye and Qatar are in the final stages of talks for Doha to provide up to $10 billion (TL 186.35 billion) in funding for Ankara, including up to $3 billion by the end of this year, two senior Turkish officials and one other source told Reuters.
One of the officials said the total funding could take the form of a swap, eurobond or other methods, and that the Turkish and Qatari leaders had discussed the issue.
Türkiye’s Treasury was not immediately available for comment. Officials in Qatar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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 country’s central bank already had in place a swap deal with Qatar's central bank that was originally worth $5 billion but was tripled in 2020 to $15 billion.
The sources spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the funding.
"Talks for Qatar to provide new resources to Turkey have reached the final stage. A minimum amount of $8 billion is foreseen" but it could total as much as $10 billion, the first official said.
"Resources will be obtained, with $2-$3 billion by the end of this year (and) the rest to come next year. This could be a swap or eurobond but they are discussing several methods. There is a mutual agreement," the person added.
The second Turkish official said the talks for $2 billion-$3 billion funding for this year were focused on the eurobond.
Qatar has strong ties with Türkiye, which supported Doha when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and two other Arab states imposed an embargo on Qatar in 2017 in a row that was resolved early last year.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was in Qatar for the opening game of the soccer World Cup on Sunday, while Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati met his Qatari counterpart Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari last month.
Türkiye's Treasury and Finance Ministry has borrowed $9 billion in 2022, of the $11 billion foreign borrowing foreseen for the year.
The ministry foresees $10 billion in foreign borrowing for 2023 but it can bring forward its debt issuances when needed for earlier financing.
Ankara already has a total of $28 billion in currency swap deals with the UAE, China, Qatar and South Korea and bankers calculate around $23 billion-$24 billion are already in the Turkish central bank's reserves.
Türkiye is also in the final stage of talks with Saudi Arabia on Riyadh placing a $5 billion deposit in the Turkish central bank, a Saudi Finance Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday. The Turkish lender has declined to comment on the matter while the Finance Ministry confirmed the statement later in the day.
Instead of swap deals, Türkiye's central bank has recently preferred depo accounts, which involve dollars or euros entering the system instead of local currencies.