Saudi Treasury holdings slip to $141.2 billion as Kuwait hits record

Summary

• Saudi holdings of US Treasuries fell $1.19 billion in August to $141.2 billion.
• Kuwait moved the other way, posting a record $72.957 billion on a third straight monthly rise.
• The monthly series is the clearest public read on Gulf dollar reserve positioning.

The latest

Saudi Arabia's stock of US Treasury securities dropped to about $141.2 billion at the end of August 2026, a decline of $1.19 billion from July, according to US Treasury TIC data released on 16 October. The Kingdom ranked 17th among foreign holders. Kuwait went the opposite direction in the same month, lifting its position to an all-time high.

Details

• The Saudi split: Of the Saudi total, long-term securities accounted for roughly $112.8 billion, or about 80%, with short-term bills making up $28.4 billion, or about 20%, according to the Treasury data. The maturity mix leaves the bulk of the position in instruments less sensitive to short-term liquidity management.
• Kuwait's record: Kuwait's holdings reached $72.957 billion at the end of August, a record, rising $3.723 billion or 5.38% from July and $13.715 billion or 23.15% from August 2025, per the Treasury figures. It was the third consecutive monthly increase for the Kuwaiti position.
• Kuwait's composition: Long-term bonds made up $70.761 billion of Kuwait's holdings, or 96.99% of the total, against $2.196 billion in short-term bills. The concentration at the long end is far heavier than Saudi Arabia's 80/20 split, pointing to a different duration stance between the two.
• Flow data: Net purchases by Kuwait residents came to $3.08 billion during August, according to the Treasury data — a figure close to the headline month-on-month increase, indicating the rise was driven by buying rather than by valuation effects alone.
• The UAE comparison: The UAE held $116.1 billion in US Treasuries, as cited by Al Anba in its comparison of regional positions. That leaves the three Gulf holders spread across a roughly $70 billion to $141 billion band in the August table.
• The top of the table: Japan remained the largest foreign holder at $1.07 trillion, followed by the United Kingdom at $1.01 trillion and China at $590.7 billion, per the Treasury data. Gulf holdings sit an order of magnitude below the leaders, and no Gulf state appears in the top ranks of the list.
• The release calendar: The Treasury published the August figures on 16 October, with regional coverage by Argaam and Al Anba following on 18 and 19 October. TIC data run on a roughly two-month lag, so the picture describes positions held well before publication.
• What the data does not show: The Treasury tables report holdings by country of custody rather than by institution, and no breakdown was published identifying which sovereign funds, central banks or private holders sit behind the Saudi, Kuwaiti or Emirati totals.

Background

The TIC series is the US Treasury's monthly tally of foreign holdings of American government debt. For Gulf states, where central bank and sovereign fund portfolios are rarely disclosed in detail, it is one of the few recurring public windows onto dollar asset positioning.

Between the lines

The two moves are not symmetrical in character. Kuwait's increase is matched by $3.08 billion in net resident purchases, which points to active accumulation rather than price movement. The Saudi decline of $1.19 billion is small against a $141.2 billion base and a single month does not establish a trend in either direction.

What's next

The next TIC release will show whether Kuwait extends its streak to a fourth consecutive monthly rise and whether the Saudi position stabilises or continues to drift lower.

Source: US Treasury (TIC data), Argaam, Al Anba