Sovereign wealth funds in the oil-rich Gulf states are actively seeking investments in the troubled US economy, Robert Kimmitt, the deputy US treasury secretary, said on Tuesday.

The region’s economic powerhouses had seemed reluctant to divert much of their estimated $2,000bn (€1,600bn, £1,300bn) portfolio into the US economy, worrying that the economic crisis has further to go. Gulf money has been instrumental in previous attempts to shore up the balance sheets of major Wall Street names.