China massively offloads US debt holdings first time in 2009

[FarCenter]

August 18, 2009

According to the data published by the US Treasury Department on August 17, by the end of June, China's holdings of US Treasury Bonds (T-bonds) totaled 776.4 billion USD, down 25.1 billion, or 3.13 percent compared with the country's 801.5 billion USD T-bonds holdings in May, indicating China's first massive offload of US debt in 2009.

Japan, the second biggest holder of US T-bonds has purchased 34.6 billion USD of US T-bonds in June, adding its total US T-bonds holdings to 711.8 billion USD. The UK, US debt's third biggest holder, holds 214 billion USD T-bonds by the end of June, up 50.2 billion, or 30.6 percent compared to its 163.8 billion USD of US debt holdings in May.

China has offloaded 4.4 billion USD of US T-bonds in April and increased its holdings by 38 billion USD in May.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/90857/90859/6731005.html

[Ian David]

1. And that will trigger the second drop in our "W-Shaped" recession? n/t

[FarCenter]

2. It depends on what they are moving into

But it is likely to increase interest rates, especially since the Fed won't be replacing their buying.

[TexasObserver]

3. It's a drop in the bucket, offset by Japan's increase.