QATAR PROMISES TURKEY $15 Billion

ANKARA : President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has found a benefactor to help put Turkey from the brink of a financial crisis as Qatar promised to invest $15 billion in the country.

The Lira extended gains to 6 percent after Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Bin AI-Thani made the pledge after a 3 1/2  hour meeting with Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday.

It follows a string of urgent steps Erdogan has taken to protects its economy from an escalating feud with US counterpart with Donald Trump over an American pastor held in Turkey.

With the pledge, Turkey is reaping the rewards of standing by its wealthy Arab ally while Gulf neighbours led by Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar last year.

Since tightening its grip on power in June elections, Erdogan's relations with the US, a NATO ally have deteriorated.

''That Turkish support for Qatar during the stand-off  with Saudi Arabia finally paid off,'' Tim Ash, a senior emerging-market strategist at BkueBay Asset Management in London, said by email.

''Let's see if the Chinese and the Russians put some money on the table.''

While he seeks new alliances, Erdogan is also trying to repair his relationship with other traditional allies in Europe, such as Germany.

The two countries fell out during the election over Berlin's refusal to let Turkish politicians campaign on German soil.

Erdogan spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday and will speak to French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday.

''There isn't much that Germany can do right now,'' Holger Schmieding, the chief economist at Barenberg in London, said by phone.

''Any help that Germany could give right now would be small compared to the problem at hand.''  [Bloomberg].