Saudi Arabia threatened to sell off EU debt securities should the West confiscate Russian assets, RIA Novosti reports.
According to the agency, representatives of Saudi Arabia gave a "clear signal” to the West about the need to comply with international law. At the same time, the Saudi Ministry of Finance does not support retaliatory measures.
"Our relation with the G-7 and others is of mutual respect and we continue to discuss all issues that promote global growth and enhance the resilience of the international financial system,” Bloomberg quoted the department as saying.
The investments of the Gulf States in euros and EU securities amount to about 15.1 billion euros. The reserves of the European Central Bank (ECB) are estimated at 69 billion euros, of which 51 are denominated in foreign currency, and the remaining 18 billion — in gold.
Beijing and Tokyo will need to join Riyadh to cause the market to collapse, economist and BitRiver communications director Andrei Loboda believes.
Saudi Arabia will not be able to harm the eurozone economy alone. At the same time, the Saudis could set off a chain reaction — with a major sell-off of EU government debt exacerbating the weak economic performance of the eurozone.
The G7 governments have still not agreed on the possible confiscation of the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank. They have only agreed on using the proceeds from their placement to help Ukraine. The chosen scheme makes it possible to transfer a significant amount of funds to Kyiv at at a time. It provides for the issuance of a loan, which will be repaid from income. The Russian Ministry of Finance does not expect the G7 to unfreeze the assets in the foreseeable future.