Bessent Keeps Treasury Auctions on Schedule as Buybacks Double to at Least $4 Billion
Updated
Updated · Fox Business · Aug 24
Bessent Keeps Treasury Auctions on Schedule as Buybacks Double to at Least $4 Billion
3 articles · Updated · Fox Business · Aug 24
Summary
Scott Bessent said regular Treasury debt auctions will continue unchanged, pushing back on speculation that larger long-bond buybacks might reduce upcoming issuance.
Sept. 9 is the earliest the new structure can take effect, and Bessent said Treasury has not bought any bonds yet; the next 10-, 20- and 30-year auctions are due in mid-September.
The Aug. 19 change lifts maximum buyback authority from $2 billion per operation to a floor of at least $4 billion through Nov. 4, aimed at improving liquidity in longer-dated nominal Treasurys.
Yields briefly fell after the buyback announcement but mostly retraced, with Treasury rates still near multi-year highs as the U.S. gross national debt has topped $40 trillion.
Treasury has not identified a funding source for the buybacks, though Reuters said the roughly $940 billion Treasury General Account could be used instead of issuing more short-dated debt.