Foreign cenbanks big net buyers of Treasuries - Fed

NEW YORK, April 5 (Reuters) - Foreign central banks were hefty net buyers of U.S. Treasuries in the latest week and increased their overall holdings of U.S. securities, Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday.

The Fed said its holdings of Treasury and agency debt kept for overseas central banks climbed $20.80 billion in the week ended April 4 to a total of $1.906 trillion.

The breakdown of custody holdings showed overseas central banks bought $18.86 billion in Treasury debt, for a total $1.233 trillion.

The foreign institutions bought securities from government-sponsored agencies like Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), adding $1.95 billion to their holdings, for a total $673.08 billion.

Overseas central banks, particularly those in Asia, have been huge buyers of U.S. debt in recent years, and own over a quarter of marketable Treasuries.

The full Fed report can be found on:

here