THE value of the Manx government’s investments in sovereign bonds has fallen by £2 million in the wake of the Eurozone crisis, it’s been revealed.
Questions about the Isle of Man’s exposure to a potential ‘meltdown’ in the Eurozone were raised in the House of Keys by Middle’s Howard Quayle.
‘Would the Treasury Minister agree that we should be reducing our Eurozone sovereign bond exposure to nil?’
He said: ‘France is in danger of having its credit rating downgraded. Non-French investors are quietly selling off their holding accountings down to 66 per cent – it was 71 per cent in 2010.
Treasury Minister Eddie Teare MHK said the market value of government’s direct exposure to Eurozone sovereign bonds was about £2.9m as at November 18 this year – some 0.2 per cent of the value of externally invested assets.
He said they had been bought for £4.9m, meaning their value had reduced by £2m.
‘Generally, the investment managers have been reducing exposure to Eurozone sovereign bonds in recent months,’ he said.
