Foreign c.banks' U.S. debt holdings up in week-Fed

NEW YORK Aug 20 (Reuters) - Foreign central banks' holdings of U.S. Treasuries at the Federal Reserve rose in the latest week while agency debt holdings also increased, data from the U.S. central bank showed on Thursday.

Treasuries held by overseas central banks at the Fed rose by $5.021 billion to $2.032 trillion in the week to Aug. 19.

Foreign central banks' holdings of securities issued or guaranteed by the two biggest U.S. mortgage financing agencies, Fannie Mae FNM.P and Freddie Mac FRE.P, rose by $2.157 billion to $784.99 billion in the same week.

The combined holdings of Treasuries and agency securities by foreign central banks at the Fed rose $7.177 billion to total $2.817 trillion.

Overseas central banks, particularly in Asia, have been huge buyers of U.S. debt in recent years and own more than a quarter of marketable Treasuries. China is the biggest such buyer.

The full Fed report can be found on: here (Reporting by Burton Frierson; Editing by James Dalgleish)