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

Thu Dec 4, 2008 4:30pm EST

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

Bonds  |  Global Markets

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)



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