Saudi Arabia says will soon deposit $5 billion in Turkey

Saudi Arabia will place a $5 billion deposit at Turkey's central bank (TCMB) "within days," the kingdom's finance minister, Mohammed al-Jadaan, said on Wednesday

"It will happen soon. The decision was taken between us and Turkey," he told reporters, saying discussions were on remaining details and the deposit could happen "within days," according to Reuters.

"There is great improvement in our relationship with Turkey and we aspire for investment opportunities in Turkey and other countries," he said.

The momentum of talks between the countries' central banks comes after Ankara and Riyadh's joint effort to mend ties that were ruptured after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.

The swap deals the TCMB earlier made in local currencies amount to $28 billion. The bank had signed a deal with China for $6 billion, with Qatar for $15 billion, with the United Arab Emirates for around $5 billion.

The swap and deposit agreements are of crucial importance for TCMB, and for the Turkish economy in general, as the central bank's foreign currency reserves have been depleted in market interventions conducted in response to a severe currency crisis in the last couple of years.

According to Turkish economist Mahfi Egilmez, former deputy undersecretary of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, the net reserves of TCMB as of 30 September 2022 is minus $59.2 billion.