Qatar is expected to buy $2 billion worth of Turkish eurobonds in January, fulfilling its prior commitment to support Ankara’s foreign exchange reserves, sources told Reuters.
Doha has already contributed almost $1 billion as part of that larger agreement, the Turkish economic officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Reuters.
Turkey and Qatar were in talks in November to have Doha contribute finance of up to $10 billion, including up to $3 billion by the end of this year, Reuters reported then.
“With the expected $2 billion in the first weeks of January, we will reach the initial $2-3 billion plan, from the total $10 billion investment,” one of the officials told Reuters.
Neither the Turkish Treasury nor Qatari officials have yet publicly commented on the matter.
However, the Turkish Treasury reported this month that it sold $2 billion worth of dollar-denominated eurobonds, of which investors from the Middle East purchased 55%.
According to the second official, due to strong demand from other countries, Qatar did not contribute as much to this December’s eurobond offering as it had anticipated.
“A new issue is planned for the first week of the year and Qatar is seen to buy some $2 billion of it. The rest of the amount is expected to come throughout 2023,” that person said.
By balancing the supply and demand for foreign currency in the economy, Ankara has been expanding its options for foreign resources to support its strategy of bolstering the lira.
In recent months, the government has been able to stabilise the value of the lira thanks to an injection of foreign investment, and annual inflation is gradually declining from above 85%.
A swap agreement between the central banks of the two countries was already in place; it was initially worth $5 billion but was tripled to $15 billion in 2020.
Close ties
Turkey, with which Qatar has close ties, stood by Doha when the blockading quartet of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt imposed an illegal embargo on Qatar in 2017 following a dispute that was later settled in 2021.
Turkey’s President last visited Qatar for the historic 2022 FIFA World Cup, where he met with Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah El Sisi.
Ankara played a key role in securing the major sporting event, with at least 3,000 Turkish riot police dispatched to Qatar.
Turkey announced in July plans to send chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence personnel during the event.
Between 2020 and 2021 alone, trade volume saw a 6% increase, reaching $1.6 billion. By December last year, Qatar’s total investments in Turkey reached $22 billion.
There are 711 Turkish companies operating in the Gulf state as of October this year, the Spokesperson for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry Dr. Majed Al Ansari said.
Meanwhile, there are also 644 companies with Qatar-Turkish capital in the private sector, with Doha representing one of the largest investors in Ankara.
