ICBC Turkey ‘completes first transaction of 450 mln lira under Turkey-China swap deal’

ANKARA - Reuters

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The Turkish unit of Chinese lender ICBC completed a 450 million Turkish Lira ($132.55 million) swap transaction at the end of November, banking sources said on Dec. 8, marking the first such deal under an agreement between the two countries.

China and Turkey renewed their bilateral local currency swap agreement for a further three years in November 2015, and increased the swap line from 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion) to 12 billion yuan.

The pact could be extended in the future, based on mutual agreement, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) had said in a statement on its website.

ICBC Turkey Bank is majority owned by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s biggest bank by assets.