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Foreign central banks boost U.S. debt holdings-Fed

Thu May 15, 2008 4:30pm EDT

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NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - Foreign central banks were net buyers of U.S. Treasury debt and U.S. federal agency debt in the latest week, Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday.

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The Fed said its holdings of Treasury and agency debt kept for overseas central banks rose $11.6 billion in the week ended May 14, to stand at a total of $2.2845 trillion.

The breakdown showed overseas central banks bought $10.52 billion in Treasury debt, leaving the total at $1.353 trillion.

Foreign institutions bought securities from government-sponsored agencies like Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N), adding $1.1 billion from those holdings to stand at a total $931.93 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 Ellen Freilich; Editing by James Dalgleish)



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