The inflow marks the first time Turkey received such a substantial amount under the lira-yuan swap agreement with Beijing that dates back to 2012, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public.
The cash infusion boosted Turkey’s foreign reserves around the time of Istanbul local elections that had left international investors fretting about the country’s political and financial stability.
While it marks a success in Erdogan’s effort to re-align Turkey’s international relations by forging new partnerships with the likes of Russia and China, those ties aren’t a match for traditional allies in the West it risks further alienating, said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Turkish head of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
“Such short term sources of financing can’t be a remedy for Turkey’s longer term needs,” Unluhisarcikli said by phone. “They are by no means a replacement for Turkey’s long-standing relations with the U.S. and the West.”
MORE: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-09/turkey-got-1-billion-from-china-swap-in-june-boost-to-reserves