Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with Turkey to deposit $5 billion in the country’s central bank through the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), the fund announced today.

Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan had announced in December his country’s intention to make the deposit.

While the Turkish net foreign exchange reserves had recovered from just $6 billion last summer, their lowest level in at least 20 years; they lost about 8.5 billion dollars after the great earthquake which hit the southern regions of the country at the beginning of February and claimed the lives of more than 45,000 people, while leaving millions homeless.

The Turkish central bank’s net international reserves fell by about $1.4 billion to $20.2 billion in the week to Feb. 24, bank data showed on Thursday.

The Saudi deposition follows joint efforts by Ankara and Riyadh to improve their relations, which were damaged after the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Turkey’s foreign exchange reserves have plummeted in recent years due to market interventions following the December 2021 currency crisis. The Turkish lira lost about 30% of its value against the dollar last year and 44% in 2021.

The filing was signed by SFD chairman Ahmed Akil Al-Khatib, who is also Saudi Arabia’s tourism minister, and Turkish central bank governor Sahap Cavcioglu, the SFD statement said.