WASHINGTON (AP) — On his first trip to the Middle East as Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner's message this week will be similar to the one he delivered to Chinese officials a month ago: your investments in the United States are safe.

Geithner is expected to repeat assurances that the government's soaring budget deficits will not trigger a devastating bout of inflation that sinks the value of the dollar and foreigners' holdings.

Geithner is scheduled to hold high-level meetings tomorrow and on Wednesday with top government officials and leading business executives in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

"We have a fiscal policy that will ultimately undermine the value of their holdings and that has got foreign investors nervous," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "They are seeking assurances that the US is committed to dealing with its long-term deficit problems." On Monday, the government is expected to announce that the deficit through the first nine months of this budget year hit an historic milestone in June, topping $1 trillion.

Geither will stress that the Obama administration is committed to bringing down the deficits once the country has emerged from the current recession and financial crisis, said a Treasury official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.

The trip also includes a stop in London today to confer with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and top officials in his government. On Thursday, Geithner meets with French finance officials. But the discussions that will be most closely watched will occur in the Middle East.

In the United Arab Emirates, Geithner will meet with officials of government-run investment funds, known as sovereign wealth funds, which have poured billions of dollars into US banks and other companies. The Saudis also recycle significant petro-dollars into US investments.

The Obama administration, just like the Bush administration, has to walk a fine line between insisting that the US remains open to foreign investment while guarding against the type of public furore that ended up blocking the efforts of Dubai-owned DP World to manage six of the largest ports in the US in 2006.