Saudi Arabia’s $117 Billion Treasuries Tally Poses Fresh Puzzle
- Figure amounts to about 20% of nation’s foreign reserves
- IMF rule of thumb is two-thirds of reserves in dollar assets
Just How Much U.S. Debt Does Saudi Arabia Own?
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After the U.S. government’s first-ever release quantifying Saudi Arabia’s Treasuries holdings, a question echoed through Wall Street: That’s it?
The kingdom held $116.8 billion of Treasuries as of March, according to data that the Treasury Department released Monday in response to a Freedom-of-Information Act request submitted by Bloomberg News. It’s the first time the U.S. disclosed a breakdown for the world’s biggest oil exporter, after lumping it in with a group of other oil producers since 1974.