Foreign central banks shed most US bonds since Jan

[NEW YORK] Overseas central banks' holdings of US bonds at the Federal Reserve posted their biggest weekly drop in nearly six months to their lowest level since May, Fed data released late Thursday showed.

The drop of US$27.06 billion in the week ended July 22 lowered the Fed's custody of US Treasuries and other debt securities for foreign official institutions to US$3.326 trillion.

This was the biggest weekly drop in overseas debt holdings with the US central bank since a US$27.42 billion fall in the week ended Jan 28.

The three-week decline in the Fed's custody holdings has totaled US$51.24 billion.

The latest fall in debt holdings among foreign central banks was concentrated in Treasuries, which declined by US$26.37 billion, the steepest since a US$27.94 billion drop in the week ended Jan 28.

REUTERS