East Timor Oil Fund expected worth US$4 billion by December

East Timor: Oil Fund expected worth US$4 billion by December [ 2008-11-28 ]

Lisbon, Portugal, 28 Nov 2008 - East Timor's oil fund, managed by JP Morgan Chase Bank, in December is expected to be worth US$4 billion, East Timor's Foreign Affairs minister, Zacarias da Costa said Thursday in Lisbon.

In an interview with Portuguese news agency Lusa, the minister, who is in Lisbon as part of a delegation accompanying Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao on a visit to Portugal, said that 10 percent of the fund would be invested in Europe and, 'perhaps' in Portuguese banks, which would manage that part in euros.

'We want to diversify our portfolio. Our fund is in the United States, invested in traesury bonds. But, with the recent crisis, with changes in the value of the dollar on the market, with the entire international situation as it is, we are going to diversify and are looking into that,' he said.

In its most recent report, on the quarter ended September 30, the East Timor Banking and Payment Authority said that the fund’s capital stood at US$3.738 billion, as compared to US$3.203 at the end of June.

In August 2008, the US treasury bonds held by the Oil Fund were transferred from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to the JP Morgan Chase Bank although the former continues to deal with the securities on behalf of the fund and keeps its account open ready to exclusively receive oil revenues. (macauhub) http://www.macauhub.com.mo/en/news.php?ID=6492