ALBAWABA - Saudi Arabia's holdings in US treasuries grew for an eighth month in a row, hitting $135.9 billion in March, an increase of 3.66 percent from the month prior, putting the kingdom in 17th place across the biggest investors who hold such financial assets, according to official figures disclosed by Washington.
In contrast, data from the US Treasury department showed that Saudi Arabia had $108.1 billion in Treasury securities as of June of last year, considerably lower than the $119.7 billion it held at the end of 2022. When compared to the same month last year, the Kingdom's foreign reserve assets increased by 3 percent this April.
The Saudi Central Bank, or SAMA, published a report earlier this month showing that, in comparison to the previous month, the kingdom’s overseas reserve assets fell by 2% in April to SR1.66 trillion ($440 billion).
The Saudi fund has sold off a large number of technology stocks, including shares of at least $600 million in Salesforce, Microsoft, and Amazon, according to a report by Form 13F, which added that it also sold off all of its holdings in US banking and tourism firms at year's end, including investments of $942 million in Carnival Corp., $602 million in BlackRock, and $757 million in Booking Holdings.
The US Treasuries that Saudi Arabia has are reportedly split between long-term bonds valued at $107.3 billion, which make up 79 percent of the overall assets, and short-term bonds valued at $28.6 billion, making up 21 percent.
