Saudi Arabia stockpiled $116.8 billion of US Treasuries as of March, the Treasury Department announced. According to Bloomberg, the figure has been kept secret for four decades.
That makes Saudi Arabia one of the largest foreign holders of US debt, after China and Japan that own $1.3 trillion and $1.1 trillion, respectively.
According to Bloomberg, it is possible that Saudi Arabia owns even more US debt than what was revealed as Riyadh has little less than $600-billion worth of foreign reserves. As a rule, central banks hold about two-thirds of all reserves in dollars.
Some countries accumulate US Treasuries in offshore financial centers. For example, China holds $143 billion of US government debt through custodial accounts in Belgium.
In April the Saudi government threatened to sell off $750-billion worth of American assets if the US Congress passes a bill that could hold the kingdom responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks.
