'The Foreign Official Sectors Are Selling Treasuries'

The Financial Times reported April 1 that foreign central banks, foreign government institutions, and international institutions have sold a net $82 billion, or 3%, of their U.S. Treasury securities in just over a month, since Feb. 25 (i.e., just before the attacks on Iran started). taking their total holdings down to the lowest level since early 2012. This is despite the fact that the Treasury market has tripled in size since 2012, so foreign official holdings as a share of that market have declined dramatically—for months, but in particular during the past month. Pension funds, hedge funds, private equity funds, investment banks, and wealthy individuals have become much more involved in the Treasury market in the place of government and international institutions.