South Korea makes $780 million transfer to Turkey central bank

ANKARA South Korea made a $780 million transfer to Turkey's central bank last week, a portion of the $2 billion that was agreed in a swap deal in 2021, two bankers told Reuters.

The total amount transferred from South Korea to Turkey is now worth more than $1 billion, according to bankers, based on the central bank's balance sheet and reserves data.

The Turkish central bank did not make a statement on the issue.

Turkey's central bank has swap deals in local currency, with several of its counterparts worth $28 billion. The Turkish central bank's reserves have declined sharply in recent years, due to market interventions totaling $128 billion in 2019 -- 2020 to support the lira. It has taken more indirect steps to stop the currency's decline this year, taking a more dominant role in the forex market.

Its net forex reserves stood at $9.72 billion as of Sept. 30, up from a 20 year low of $6.07 billion it touched in July.

The bank has built up its reserves through swap deals and more recently through newly opened depo accounts in dollars or euros. During periods when reserves rose, President Tayyip Erdogan said friendly countries are supporting the central bank.

Azeri SOCAR has a depo account worth 1 billion euros at the Turkish central bank, while another central bank, the name of which has not been disclosed, has an account worth almost $2 billion.

Inflows from Russia's Rosatom provided to build a nuclear plant in Turkey boosted the central bank's reserves in the summer by around $6.1 billion, according to bankers.

Markets are watching to see whether Rosatom will make other transfers for the construction of the plant worth $20 billion.