Foreign holdings of U.S. debt rose in March as China ramped up its purchases and displaced Japan as the leading owner of U.S. Treasury securities.
The Treasury Department says overseas ownership of U.S. debt rose 2.1 percent in March to $6.18 trillion. That is below January’s record of $6.22 trillion.
China added $37.3 billion of Treasury debt, bringing its stockpile to $1.26 trillion. That’s ahead of Japan, which added just $2.5 billion, lifting its total to $1.23 trillion.
In February, Japan became the leading owner of U.S. debt for the first time since August 2008. China overtook Japan that year as the Great Recession, higher government spending and a steep drop in tax revenue pushed up U.S. government borrowing.
The U.S. deficit topped $1 trillion from 2009 through 2012.
Foreign governments, primarily through their central banks, account for two-thirds of the foreign holdings. In March, the total held by foreign governments rose 1 percent from the previous month to $4.13 trillion.
A group of oil exporting nations, which includes Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Algeria, Venezuela and Nigeria, added $500 million to bring their holdings to $297.3 billion, the third largest. Caribbean banking centers, a group that includes the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands, added $10.9 billion, lifting their holdings to $293 billion, the fourth largest.
Demand for U.S. Treasurys, widely considered one of the world’s safest investments, is likely to remain strong. While U.S. interest rates are still low, they may climb later this year if the Federal Reserve begins to raise interest rates.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/foreign-ownership-us-debt-rises-china-reclaims-top-31078880
Now… why are the chinks buying our debt?
It makes absolutely no financial sense because the debt is impossible to pay.
What they’re buying is an interest in this country that will allow them to lay claim to it once all the round-eyes are out of the way.
I know they stopped buying our treasuries a long time ago, so someone must have sweetened the deal for them to start buying into this country again.
“China added $37.3 billion of Treasury debt, bringing its stockpile to $1.26 trillion.”
Buy all the debt you want. We don’t mind. It’s not OUR (We the People) debt anyway. You’ll have to collect from those communists calling themselves ‘the government’.
Try taking OUR (NOT the so-called ‘government’s’) land, however, and it will be an entirely different story.