GCC holdings of US debt instruments nears $281bln in December

Mubasher: The GCC region’s holdings of US debt instruments fell 0.4% month-on-month to $280.64 billion in December from $281.743 billion.

Saudi Arabia raised its holdings of debt instruments by 1.06% to $171.6 billion last December, against $169.9 billion in the prior month, data released by the US Department of the Treasury showed.

Meanwhile, the UAE’s holdings increased to $56.8 billion on a monthly basis, compared to $56.3 billion in November.

On the other hand, Kuwait’s holdings dropped to $41.3 billion in December, versus $43.9 billion a month earlier, while Qatar’s holdings declined to $1.178 billion month-on-month from $1.228 billion.

Similarly, Oman reduced its holdings of US debt instruments to $9.544 billion in December, against $9.603 billion in the previous month, while Bahrain, which continued to have the lowest US debt instrument holdings among its GCC peers, also reduced its investment in US Treasuries to $720 million in December, compared to $812 million in November.

Globally

Globally, China topped US treasury holders with $1.123 trillion in December, against $1.121 trillion in the previous month, its lowest level since May 2017.

Japan continued to rank second after trimming its holdings of US debt instruments to $1.024 trillion in December, from $1.036 trillion a month earlier.

Meanwhile, Brazil was the third largest holder of US debt instruments with $303.1 billion in December, down from $311.4 billion in November.