Did he really say that? Crikey.
EUR/USD slips back down through 1.2100, presently 1.2095.
EDIT: Headline misleading. Bank of Italy Director Salvatore Rossi, speaking before Senate hearing, said Italy’s interest payments on debt were subject to great uncertainty and that a 1% rise or fall in interest rates on debt maturing from 2011 would cut or hike the 2012 deficit by 0.5 percentage points. Ahhh.
China Total holding of US Treasuries: $755.4B v $789.6B prior
Japan Total Holdings of US Treasuries: $768.8B v $757.3B prior
Oil Exporters total Holdings of US Treasuries: $186.8B v $187.7B prior
Brazil holdings of US Treasuries $160.6B v $157.1B prior
Russia holdings of US Treasuries $118.5B v $128.1B prior
Hong Kong holdings of US Treasuries $152.9B v $146.2B prior
India holdings of US Treasuries: $29.6B v $31.6B prior
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government said Tuesday that foreign demand for U.S. Treasury securities fell by the largest amount on record in December with China reducing its holdings by $34.2 billion.
The reductions in holdings, if they continue, could force the government to make higher interest payments at a time that it is running record federal deficits.
The Treasury Department reported that foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities fell by $53 billion in December, surpassing the previous record of a $44.5 billion drop in April 2009.[…] (more…)
