| Lamplighter |
01-22-2011 08:46 PM |
China's and the US debt go hand in hand, and the world seems stable.
But if China is laying off our debt to others, could this be a forewarning
that the magnitude of their purchases may be coming down soon.
NY Times
Data Shows Less Buying of U.S. Debt by China
By FLOYD NORRIS
Published: January 21, 2011
Quote:
FOR eight years after the United States resumed running large budget deficits in 2002,
China was the largest lender, buying a fifth of the new Treasury
securities sold during that span — an expenditure of more than $900 billion.
During 2006, China financed more than half the American deficit.
When the financial crisis struck hardest, China spent more than $100 billion on Treasuries
over the two-month period of September and October 2008.
But over the last year, China has been a net seller of Treasury securities,
according to figures released this week by the American government.
If that is true, it would be extraordinary, considering the size of the bilateral trade deficit,
and there has been speculation that China has been purchasing Treasuries through accounts in other countries.
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Quote:
It is not easy to see how the Chinese government managed to keep its currency
from rising more rapidly against the dollar if it did not continue buying Treasuries in 2010,
and there has been speculation that it shifted purchases to accounts managed by British money managers.
If so, such purchases would show up as British purchases.
As it turns out, Britain is estimated to have been the largest purchaser of Treasuries
over the 12-month period, adding $356 billion to its holdings.
That made it by far the largest buyer, followed by Japan.
The only other major seller during the period was Russia, according to the government estimates.
If China has been buying through money managers,
it may be easier at some point for it to begin selling Treasuries through
the British channel without others understanding where the selling pressure is coming from.
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