Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia increased its holdings of US debt instruments by 10.6% year-on-year, or $16.1 billion (SAR 60.40 billion), in February and came in at the 11th place globally among other investors.
The oil-rich kingdom’s US Treasury holdings amounted to $167 billion (SAR 626.54 billion) in the second month of 2019, compared to $150.9 billion (SAR 566.14 billion) in the corresponding month in 2018, data by the US Treasury Department showed.
Month-on-month, Saudi Arabia raised its holdings of US debt instruments by $4.4 billion (SAR 16.5 billion) from $162.6 billion (SAR 610.03 billion) in January.
At the global level, China came first among investors in the US Treasuries with $1.130 trillion in February, hitting its highest level since October 2018, compared to $1.126 trillion in January.
In addition, Japan ranked second with holdings of US government bonds valued at $1.072 trillion in February from $1.070 trillion a month earlier, followed by Brazil which made up $307.7 billion in February, compared to $305.1 billion in January.
