Foreign governments sharply reduced their holdings of U.S. Treasuries in March as the war-linked surge in oil prices and currency volatility rattled global markets and forced several central banks to defend weakening currencies, according to a new report.
China cut its holdings of U.S. government debt to $652.3 billion in March, the lowest level since September 2008, while Japan, the largest foreign holder of Treasuries, reduced its position by about $47 billion to $1.191 trillion, according to U.S. Treasury Department data released Monday. Overall foreign holdings fell to $9.25 trillion from $9.49 trillion in February.
