ANKARA: Turkish central bank reserves data shows inflows of about $3 billion into depo accounts last week from abroad, bankers said on Thursday.

The central bank did not comment when asked about the matter by Reuters. Four bankers contacted by Reuters calculated that there was between $3 and $3.1 billion deposited into the accounts.

Before being re-elected to office on May 28, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Gulf states had sent funding to Turkey, briefly helping relieve the central bank and markets.

Erdogan has called this type of inflow the support of “friendly countries”.

Turkish central bank total reserves dropped to $98.5bn

The central bank’s net international reserves hit an all-time low of negative $5.7 billion as of June 2, data showed on Thursday, with demand having surged through the elections.

Ankara has secured some $28 billion in currency swap deals in recent years with the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, China and South Korea, most of which are believed to be in the Turkish central bank’s reserves.

Turkey’s foreign exchange buffer has been depleted partly due to a series of lira currency crashes sparked by interest rate cuts in the face of soaring inflation.