The real saviors stand up

The oil producing countries, which have been accumulating mountains of cash in the last few years, are the real heroes and saviors of big financial houses. Two large financial institutions Citicorp and Merrill Lynch were saved by Arab oil countries and some rich Asian nations. Together Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and South Korea contributed more than $21 billion to save the two banks from crumbling due to nearly $69 billion sub prime mortgage fiasco in the USA.
The rich oil producing countries dropped their parachutes in the form of cash to these banks without any hesitation with an eye on long-term benefits. This is despite the fact that some institutions and governments eye us differently and are unfriendly when we want to invest in their ports or in their oil infrastructure due to lack other real viable alternatives. Investing in the USA and the West is the only means so far until China and the rest of Asian countries provide an alternative or a second choice. The extra cash that is coming from sovereign wealth funds is still not that huge and represents a small portion about 2 percent or about $3 trillion of the total $162 trillion traded globally but it was enough for preventing world class institutions from going under.

Arab Times