Investors from Russia and Saudi Arabia have cut their combined holdings of US securities by more than $50 billion between mid 2014 and 2015, reports the Financial Times.<\/p>\n
Over the period, Saudi Arabia reduced its holdings by $26 billion, according to an annual US Treasury survey published earlier this week. The Treasury recently unveiled the scale of Saudi buying of US government debt that had dropped by $3 billion to about $116 billion from February to March.<\/p>\n
Russian investment in US holdings has more than halved since the 2008 financial crisis to roughly $73 billion by the end of last June.<\/p>\n
After crude prices plunged in January to $28 per barrel from $110 in June 2014, the governments of both countries had to search for alternative funding sources to balance their budgets. Although prices have stabilized close to $50 per barrel, Moscow and Riyadh are still facing deficits.<\/p>\n
Russia sold $1.75 billion worth of debt last month. Saudi Arabia has announced its own bond sale to raise $15 billion in capital.<\/p>\n
Foreign purchases of US securities hit a record $17.1 trillion in June 2015, up four percent from a year earlier. This is largely due to increased holdings by Luxembourg, the UK, Ireland and the Cayman Islands, according to the US Treasury.<\/p>\n
The survey conducted among brokers and financial institutions revealed a $159 billion upsurge in holdings of American assets by UK portfolios. The Treasury also reports an increase in US asset purchases by India, Turkey, Brazil and Mexico.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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