RIYADH: After experiencing a three-month decline, Saudi Arabia’s holdings in US Treasuries saw a 1 percent increase in July to reach $109.2 billion. The details released by the US Treasury Department revealed the Kingdom maintained the 18th spot among the largest holders of US Treasuries in July. Saudi Arabia’s holdings were worth $116.2 billion in March 2023. However, this slipped to $113.3 billion in April and later dropped to $111.3 billion in May. According to the report, the Kingdom’s holdings of US Treasuries included long-term bonds totaling $100.99 billion in July, accounting for 92 percent of the total value. Simultaneously, Saudi Arabia’s short-term bonds were worth $8.24 billion, accounting for 8 percent of the total value. The report noted that Japan was the largest holder of US Treasury bonds in July with $1.12 trillion in holdings, followed by China and the UK with assets worth $821.8 billion and 662.4 billion, respectively. In August, the Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA, revealed that its investments in foreign securities dropped by 14 percent in July to $258.16 billion, compared to $300 billion in the same month of the previous year. However, SAMA’s deposits in abroad banks rose year on year by 6.88 percent in July to $94.38 billion. In August, Ayman Al-Sayari, governor of SAMA, revealed that Saudi Arabia is the largest Islamic finance market in the world, with total assets exceeding SR3.1 trillion. He added that Saudi Arabia is also the largest sovereign sukuk issuer in the global market. Highlighting the Kingdom’s strong financial growth, the International Monetary Fund recently stated that Saudi Arabia has promising fiscal prospects in the near term, driven by its ongoing economic diversification efforts, in alignment with the objectives outlined in Vision 2030. A report released by the Boston Consulting Group in September noted that Saudi Arabia’s financial wealth is expected to experience a compound annual growth rate of 4.3 percent, reaching $1.3 trillion by 2027. With a CAGR of 5.8 percent, real assets in the Kingdom are projected to grow from $2.7 trillion in 2022 to $3.6 trillion in 2027, the BCG report added.