China’s holdings in U.S. Treasuries drop for second straight month in April

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday stated that a record amount of US Treasury bonds and notes were sold by foreign investors in April as investors anticipate the U.S. Fed to hike rates in 2016. In April, a total of USD 74.6 billion in U.S. Treasury debt was sold by foreigners after buying USD 23.6 billion in the previous month. The outflow recorded in April was the biggest since the department began recording Treasury debt transactions in January 1978.

China continues to be the biggest foreign holder of U.S. government debt. However, the U.S. Treasury securities’ top buyer reduced its holdings in the month of April, according to the U.S. Treasury Department data. The country cut its holding by USD 1.8 billion to USD 1.2428 trillion in April. The country’s holding of treasuries was USD 1.245 trillion in March. This was the second consecutive month where China’s holdings declined.

Overall, foreign central bank holdings of U.S. Treasury securities fell from USD 6.287 trillion in March to USD 6.2385 trillion.