19/08/2020
Al-Eqtisadiah from Riyadh
The Norwegian Central Bank confirmed yesterday that the government pension fund lost 188 billion crowns (21 billion dollars) in the first half of 2020 due to stock market fluctuations due to the Kourna pandemic.
According to the "German", the bank stated that the revenues of the sovereign wealth fund decreased by 3.4 percent during the period from January to June.
Trond Grand, executive vice president of the investment management unit at Norges Bank, the Central Bank, which manages the fund’s assets, said, “There has been significant volatility in the stock market during this period. The year has started with optimism, but the outlook for the stock market quickly dissipated when it started. Coronavirus is spreading around the world. "
At the same time, he pointed out that the sharp decline in global stock markets during the first quarter was "limited by the broad reaction on the monetary and financial policy levels," referring to various government initiatives.
He added, "Although markets recovered well in the second quarter, we are still witnessing a great deal of uncertainty."
The fund, one of the largest in the world, places about 70 percent of its investments in stocks, and owned shares in about 9,200 companies at the end of June, including tech giants such as Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon.
The Parliament approved the establishment of this sovereign fund in 1990 to invest the revenues of the country's oil and gas sectors, and it also invests money in bonds and real estate.
This comes at a time when data from the US Treasury Department showed yesterday that foreigners bought US treasury bills and bonds in June after they sold them for three consecutive months.
Foreign flows to the US Treasury market reached $ 28.89 billion in June, compared to outflows of $ 36.69 billion in the previous month.
The data also showed that Japan remained the largest non-US holder of US Treasury bills and bonds over the course of the month, with its holdings rising to $ 1.261 trillion in June from $ 1.260 trillion in May.
China came in second place, with its holdings of US Treasury bills and bonds amounting to $ 1.074 trillion in June, compared to $ 1.084 trillion in May.
