Foreign purchases of U.S. long- term securities were 20.7 billion U.S. dollars in September, down from a 40.7-billion-dollar increase in September, the Treasury Department reported Tuesday.
The figures reflect demand for U.S. Treasury obligations and other assets including stocks and government agency debt, a key to funding the
massive U.S. balance of payments deficit with the rest of the world.
According to the Treasury International Capital (TIC) report, large holders of the U.S. long-term securities, such as China, Japan and Britain, maintained or decreased their holdings.
Data showed that China, the largest holder of U.S. Treasury securities, maintained its holdings at 798.9 billion dollars in October.
Japan, the second-largest holder of Treasury debt, decreased its holdings to 746.5 billion dollars in October from 751.5 billion dollars a
month ago.
Next on the list, Britain decreased its holdings to 230.7 billion dollars from 249.5 billion dollars.
The next release, which will report on data for November 2009, is scheduled for Jan. 19, 2010.