Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund said Sunday that it has no plans to sell stakes in Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch and amp; Co. because it has faith in the potential of the US banks. “The authority has no intention of selling its holdings in Merrill Lynch or Citigroup in the near term, since the authority's investment policies are based on a long-term vision,” the Kuwait Investment Authority said in a statement published in local newspapers Al-Rai and Al-Qabas. The comments were attributed to both the fund itself and to Finance Minister Mostafa Al-Shimali. The KIA pumped $5 billion into the two banking giants in January 2008 just as the financial crisis was gathering steam. Sunday's comments were in response to questions from lawmaker Walid Al-Tabtabai. While noting that it is capable of selling its holdings in the two companies if it chooses to, the fund said it nonetheless remains committed to its investments for now. “Despite the sharp decline in international share prices, we think the crisis will pass with time because central banks are working to deal with it,” according to the reports. “We think the investments in these two companies is a good investment in the long-run.” The KIA invested $3 billion in Citigroup and $2 billion in Merrill Lynch when they needed cash following losses stemming from the credit crisis. Merrill was later bought by Bank of America Corp., making the KIA a big shareholder in that company.
