(MENAFN– Al-Anbaa)
Alaa Majeed
Kuwait increased its holdings of US Treasury bonds during October of this year by 0.8%, at a value of $400 million, to reach $50.3 billion, compared to $49.9 billion at the end of last September.
Kuwait also increased its holdings of US Treasury bonds during the first ten months of this year by 8.4%, at a value of $3.9 billion, compared to $46.4 billion at the end of December last year.
Kuwait diversified from the US bond portfolio between short-term bonds at a value of $11.64 billion, while the largest proportion of long-term bonds remained at a value of $38.64 billion.
Successful movements of Kuwaiti investments in US bonds appear by reducing and raising their holdings by billions in recent months, while these moves coincide with the change in the return on those bonds, as well as the increase and decrease of Kuwaiti investments in US stock exchanges.
Gulf contrast
Kuwait ranked second in the Arab world after Saudi Arabia, which ranked first in the Arab world by acquiring US bonds worth $121.1 billion, compared to $121 billion last September, including $103.10 billion in long-term bonds and $17.99 billion in short-term bonds.
The UAE also increased its investments during the month of October, to reach $53.93 billion, compared to $48.2 billion last September, of which $41.6 billion is in long-term bonds and $12.33 billion in short-term bonds.
While Qatar reduced its holdings in US bonds by acquiring $6.44 billion, all of which are long-term bonds, compared to $9.73 billion in September, and Oman’s holdings of US bonds declined in October to $6.95 billion, compared to $7.04 billion in September, of which $6.74 billion are long-term bonds. Term and $ 207 million in short-term bonds.
While Bahrain increased its investments in US bonds to reach $2 billion in October, compared to $1.42 billion last September, of which $1.76 billion was in short-term bonds and $249 million in long-term bonds.
Japanese fore
At the global level, Japan maintained, for the forty-first month in a row, its first place during the month of October, by acquiring US bonds at a value of $1,078.2 billion, down from last September’s levels of $1,120.2 billion.
China also came in second place, after Japan, with $909.6 billion, down from last September’s levels of $933.6 billion, and thirdly, the United Kingdom came with $638.5 billion, down from last September’s levels of $663.3 billion.
Belgium ranked fourth with a value of $327.3 billion, up from September’s levels of $325.1 billion, and the Cayman Islands ranked fifth in the world with $296.6 billion, down from last September’s levels of $301.5 billion.
In general, the volume of US Treasury bonds at the end of October amounted to $7,185.4 billion, compared to $7,660.7 billion in the corresponding month of 2021, an annual decline of $475.3 billion, or 6.2%.
Foreign holdings of US bonds also declined during the month of October, to reach $7,185.4 billion, compared to $7,296.9 billion in September.
