Total foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities rose to a new high in April, indicating strong international demand for U.S. government debt, the U.S. Treasury Department reported Friday.
In April, overall foreign holdings of U.S. long-term securities reached 5.16 trillion U.S. dollars, up 21 billion dollars, or 0.4 percent, from the revised level of the previous month. It was the fourth consecutive monthly increase.
According to the Treasury International capital report, China, the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury securities, boosted its holdings by 1.5 billion dollars to 1.15 trillion dollars in April.
Japan, the second largest foreign holder of U.S. government debt, trimmed its holdings by 10.2 billion dollars to 1.07 trillion dollars.
The strong demand is key to funding the U.S. mounting deficit, which is forecast to surpass 1 trillion dollars for the fourth consecutive fiscal year. |