Foreign central banks' U.S. debt holdings rise -Fed

NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Foreign central bank holdings of U.S. debt rose last week, Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday.

The Fed said its holdings of Treasury and agency debt kept for overseas central banks rose $1.97 billion in the week ended Dec 3, to stand at a total of $2.494 trillion.

The breakdown of custody holdings showed overseas central banks increased their Treasury debt holdings by $7.34 billion to stand at a total $1.628 trillion.

The foreign institutions decreased their holdings of securities from government-sponsored agencies like Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N), by $5.37 billion to stand at a total $866.4 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 (Reporting by Chris Reese; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)