WikiLeaks Document Release http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22331 February 2, 2009 Congressional Research Service Report RS22331 Foreign Holdings of Federal Debt Justin Murray, Knowledge Services Group; and Marc Labonte, Government and Finance Division March 12, 2008 Abstract. This report presents current data on estimated ownership of United States Treasury securities and major holders of federal debt by country. Federal debt represents the accumulated balance of borrowing by the federal government. To finance federal borrowing, United States Treasury securities are sold to investors. Treasury securities may be purchased directly from the Treasury or on the secondary market by individual private investors, financial institutions in the United States or overseas, and foreign, state, or local governments. Foreign investment in federal debt has grown in recent years, prompting questions on the location of the foreign holders and how much debt they hold. ¢ http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22331 ¢ Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress ¢ This report presents current data on estimated ownership of United States Treasury securities and major holders of federal debt by country. Federal debt represents the accumulated balance of borrowing by the federal government. To finance federal borrowing, United States Treasury securities are sold to investors. Treasury securities may be purchased directly from the Treasury or on the secondary market by individual private investors, financial institutions in the United States or overseas, and foreign, state, or local governments. Foreign investment in federal debt has grown in recent years, prompting questions on the location of the foreign holders and how much debt they hold. http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22331 Foreign Investment in U.S. Federal Debt: Why Is It an Issue of Concern? .............................. 3 Selected CRS Reports ............................................................................................................... 4 Figure 1. Breakdown of Official vs. Private Foreign Holdings of U.S. Federal Debt..................... 3 Table 1. Estimated Ownership of U.S. Treasury Securities............................................................. 1 Table 2. The Top 10 Foreign Holders of Federal Debt, by Country................................................ 2 http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22331 Author Contact Information ............................................................................................................ 5 F ederal debt represents, in large measure, the accumulated balance of federal borrowing of the United States government. The portion of gross federal debt held by the public consists primarily of investment in U.S. Treasury securities.1 Investors in the United States and abroad include official institutions such as the United States Federal Reserve, financial institutions such as private banks, and private individual investors. Table 1 provides December 2007 data, available as of March 2008, on estimated ownership of U.S. Treasury securities by type of investment and the percentage of that investment attributable to foreign investors.2 As the table shows, during the past five years, foreign holdings of debt increased by just over $1 trillion to more than $2.3 trillion from December 2002 to December 2007. During the same period, total privately held debt increased by approximately $1.4 trillion to $4.4 trillion. In December 2002, total foreign investment in U.S. federal debt was approximately $1.2 trillion (41.3%) of the total $3 trillion in privately held debt. By December 2007, total foreign investment in U.S. federal debt grew by 11.8% to approximately $2.335 trillion (53.1%) of all debt held by private investors.3 http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22331 seitiruceS yrusaerT.S.U fo pihsrenwO detamitsE .1 elbaT ) s r al l o d f o s n o i l l i b n i ( fo dnE tbeD cilbuP latoT yb dleH tbeD latoT a sa sgnidloH ngieroF htnoM llA yb dleH srotsevnI ngieroF latoT fo erahS srotsevnI etavirP tbeD cilbuP dleH yletavirP 7002 .ceD 7.593,4$ 3.553,2$ %1.35 6002 .ceD 1.221,4$ 0.501,2$ %1.15 5002 .ceD 6.079,3$ 0.630,2$ %3.15 4002 .ceD 6.096,3$ 4.358,1$ %2.05 3002 .ceD 9.773,3$ 0.335,1$ %4.54 2002 .ceD 5.810,3$ 8.642,1$ %3.14 .nitelluB yrusaerT 8002 hcraM eht morf seitiruceS yrusaerT .S.U fo pihsrenwO detamitsE :2-SFO elbaT :ecruoS eht ni ataD .lmth.xedni/nitellub/vog.saert.smf.www//:ptth ta selbat "seitiruceS laredeF fo pihsrenwO" rof knil eeS eht ot tcennoc ,atad tnerruc tsom eht roF .8002 ,5 hcraM fo sa tnerruc serugif detamitse tneserper evoba elbat .SRC yb detaluclac serahs egatnecreP .evoba detsil knil .eno tnatropmi tsom eht eb ton yam ti ,tbed eht fo erusaem tsedaorb eht si tbed laredef ssorg hguohtlA :setoN tbed fo erusaem eht si sihT .cilbup eht yb dleh tbed si esnes cimonoce na ni tnaveler si taht erusaem tbed ehT .snoisiced tnemtsevni etavirp dna setar tseretni decneulfni sah dna stekram tiderc ni dlos neeb yllautca sah taht fo noitrop eht dna seitiruces laredef ni srotsevni etavirp lla yb dleh tbed cilbup fo noitrop taht stcelfer elbat sihT 1 Figures on federal debt held by the public are available on the Department of Treasury Bureau of Public Debt website, "The Debt to the Penny and Who Holds It," at http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np. 2 This report discusses foreign holdings of U.S. federal debt. Foreign investors also hold U.S. private securities. For data on foreign holdings of U.S. private securities, see "Survey of Foreign Holdings of U.S. Securities," at http://www.ustreas.gov/tic/shlhistdat.html, produced by the Treasury Department International Capital System. 3 Data are excerpted from Table OFS-2 in the March 2008 Treasury Bulletin. Table OFS-2 presents the estimated ownership of U.S. Treasury securities. Information is primarily obtained from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors Flow of Funds data, Table L209. State, local, and foreign holdings include special issues of nonmarketable securities to municipal entities and foreign official accounts. They also include municipal, foreign official, and private holdings of marketable Treasury securities. in U.S. federal debt are held by governmental sources. Private investors hold the other 30.3%. of estimated foreign holdings in U.S. federal debt. As the figure shows, 69.7% of foreign holdings (governmental investment) and private sources. Figure 1 provides data on the current breakdown Foreign investment as estimated by the Treasury Department can be divided into official .gnidnuor ot eud ylthgils yrav yam segatnecreP .SRC yb detaluclac snoitamixorppa egatnecreP .evoba detsil knil eht ot tcennoc atad tnerruc tsom eht roF .8002 ,5 hcraM fo sa tnerruc stnuoma detamitse tneserper evoba elbat eht ni ataD .detsujda yllacidoirep era selbat tnemtrapeD yrusaerT eseht ni ,atad lacirotsih gnidulcni ,ataD :setoN .txt.hfm/cit/vog.saert.www//:ptth ta elbaliava era setamitse ylhtnom tnerruC .txt.10sihhfm/cit/vog.saert.www//:ptth ta etisbew sti no htnom yb yllacirotsih tbed laredef fo sredloh ngierof detamitse no atad sedivorp metsyS latipaC lanoitanretnI tnemtrapeD yrusaerT ehT :ecruoS tbeD laredeF tbeD laredeF %001 6.532,1$ ni tnemtsevnI %001 8.353,2$ ni tnemtsevnI ngieroF llA latoT ngieroF llA latoT tbeD laredeF ni tbeD laredeF ni %5.07 6.078$ srotsevnI ngieroF %6.67 0.308,1$ srotsevnI ngieroF fo seirtnuoC fo seirtnuoC 01 poT latoT 01 poT latoT %8.2 0.43$ dnalreztiwS %7.1 8.93$ eropagniS %0.3 3.73$ ynamreG %8.1 7.14$ ynamreG %0.3 4.73$ nawiaT %2.2 1.15$ gnoK gnoH %1.3 0.83$ aeroK %0.3 7.96$ gruobmexuL sretneC %8.3 5.74$ gnoK gnoH %0.5 7.611$ gniknaB naebirraC %0.4 6.94$ sretropxE liO %5.5 9.921$ lizarB %0.4 3.05$ sretneC gniknaB %9.5 9.731$ naebirraC sretropxE liO %5.6 0.08$ modgniK detinU %7.6 4.751$ modgniK detinU %6.9 4.811$ anihC dnalniaM %3.02 6.774$ anihC dnalniaM http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22331 %6.03 1.873$ napaJ %7.42 2.185$ napaJ tbed laredef )2002 .ceD tbed laredef )7002 .ceD ni sgnidloh fo sa ;snoillib yrtnuoC ni sgnidloh fo sa ;snoillib yrtnuoC ngierof lla ni $( dleH ngierof lla ni $( dleH fo egatnecreP tnuomA fo egatnecreP tnuomA )8002 ,5 hcra M fo sa tnerru c a t a D ( y rtnuoC yb ,tbeD laredeF fo sredloH ngieroF 01 po ehT .2 elba T T and the United Kingdom holds approximately 6.7%. of all foreign investment in U.S. privately held federal debt; China holds approximately 20.3%; the United Kingdom ($157.4 billion). Based on these estimates, Japan holds approximately 24.7% in descending order as of December 2007, are Japan ($581.2 billion), China ($477.6 billion), and According to the data, the top three estimated foreign holders of federal debt by country, ranked Data on major foreign holders (investors) of federal debt by country are provided in Table 2. .llehsaC .W nairB yb ,ecnacifingiS cimonocE dna eziS stI :tbeD tnemnrevoG laredeF ehT ,09513LR tropeR SRC eeS .srotsevni ngierof yb dleh tbed taht tbeD laredeF .S.U fo sgnidloH ngieroF etavirP .sv laiciffO fo nwodkaerB .1 erugiF Billions of Dollars $712.80 30.3% $1,641.00 69.7% Debt Held by Official Foreign Investors http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22331 Debt Attributed to Private Foreign Investors .txt.10sihhfm/cit/vog.saert.www//:ptth ,metsyS latipaC lanoitanretnI tnemtrapeD yrusaerT :ecruoS yrusaerT eht ni ataD .8002 ,5 hcraM fo sa tnerruc serugif detamitse tneserper trahc eht ni ataD :setoN detsil sserdda LRU eht no kcilc ,setamitse tnerruc tsom eht roF .detsujda yllacidoirep era selbat tnemtrapeD .evoba fo tsisnoc ataD .noillib 8.353,2$ saw 7002 rebmeceD rof sgnidloh ngierof lla fo latot denibmoc detamitse ehT metsyS latipaC lanoitanretnI tnemtrapeD yrusaerT eht morf serugif 7002 rebmeceD detroper ton si sgnidloh etavirp dna laiciffo detamitse neewteb nwodkaerb ehT .txt.hfm/cit/vog.saert.www//:ptth .SRC yb detamixorppa segatnecreP .sisab yrtnuoc-yb-yrtnuoc a no elbaliava yllacilbup ¢ Foreign ownership of federal debt has become a growing concern among some Members of Congress because of the nation's large and rising trade deficit. During the past three decades, U.S. national saving has not been adequate to finance its capital investment needs and borrowing from abroad has covered the gap. In order for foreigners to invest in the U.S. economy on net, the United States must import more than it exports (run a trade deficit). When the government runs a budget deficit, as it has done since 2002, it reduces the national saving rate. This implies that domestic investment must fall, unless private saving rises or borrowing from abroad increases.4 As seen in Table 1, as the national debt has increased, foreign ownership of U.S. Treasuries has followed closely, suggesting that the budget deficit has been financed, in part, through borrowing abroad. By June 2004, foreigners held more than 50% of the public debt held by private investors for the first time. Although this percentage has no particular economic significance, it may have other significance. 4 CRS Report RS21409, The Budget Deficit and the Trade Deficit: What Is Their Relationship?, by Marc Labonte and Gail E. Makinen. Since 2002, some observers have been concerned that the nature of foreign purchases of U.S. Treasuries has changed. Beginning in that year, a significant fraction of the trade deficit was financed through official purchases of U.S. assets, such as purchases by foreign central banks. Although no direct data on official purchases of Treasuries by country exist, one can infer that the Treasuries may have been purchased by certain Asian and oil producing countries because they were the only countries that had large increases in their foreign reserves during that period. Although the effect on the U.S. economy of official purchases of Treasuries is the same as private purchases, the motivations behind the purchases are different. Whereas private purchases are typically motivated by the profit incentive, official purchases may be motivated by a country's desire to keep its exchange rate constant or mitigate its rise against the dollar.5 Many observers are concerned that the large fraction of national debt held by foreigners has the potential to be harmful to the U.S. economy. Specifically, they fear that if foreigners suddenly decided to stop holding U.S. Treasury securities or decided to diversify their holdings, the dollar could plummet in value and interest rates would rise. Others are concerned that China's accumulation of hard currency assets will allow it to undertake activities in the foreign affairs and military realms that are not in the U.S. interest. Some economists argue that foreign borrowing at current levels is unsustainable and could cause problems for the U.S. economy down the road.6 http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22331 When foreigners purchase U.S. Treasuries, or any other U.S. asset, the interest rate is lower than when borrowing is financed domestically out of national saving. Thus, when overall interest rates are lower as a result of net capital inflows, more interest-sensitive spending is undertaken. Interest-sensitive spending includes capital investment (e.g., production plants and equipment), residential investment (e.g., new homes), and durable consumption goods (e.g., automobiles and appliances). On the other hand, U.S. foreign borrowing induces a trade deficit by reducing exports and import-competing production. The trade deficit occurs because foreigners must first purchase U.S. dollars before purchasing U.S. assets. When the demand for dollars increases, the dollar appreciates, making U.S. exports and import-competing goods relatively more expensive. Thus, foreign borrowing shifts production out of the trade sector and into the interest-sensitive sector.7 CRS Report RS21409, The Budget Deficit and the Trade Deficit: What Is Their Relationship?, by Marc Labonte and Gail E. Makinen. CRS Report RL31590, The Federal Government Debt: Its Size and Economic Significance, by Brian W. Cashell. CRS Report RL34319, Foreign Ownership of U.S. Financial Assets: Implications of a Withdrawal, by James K. Jackson. CRS Report RL33186, Is the U.S. Current Account Deficit Sustainable?, by Marc Labonte. 5 See CRS Report RS21951, Financing the U.S. Trade Deficit: Role of Foreign Governments, by Marc Labonte and Gail E. Makinen. 6 See CRS Report RL33186, Is the U.S. Current Account Deficit Sustainable?, by Marc Labonte. 7 CRS Report RL31032, The U.S. Trade Deficit: Causes, Consequences, and Cures, by Craig K. Elwell. CRS Report RL30520, The National Debt: Who Bears Its Burden?, by Marc Labonte and Gail E. Makinen. CRS Report RL31032, The U.S. Trade Deficit: Causes, Consequences, and Cures, by Craig K. Elwell. CRS Report RS21951, Financing the U.S. Trade Deficit: Role of Foreign Governments, by Marc Labonte and Gail E. Makinen. Justin Murray Marc Labonte Information Research Specialist Specialist in Macroeconomic Policy jmurray@crs.loc.gov, 7-4092 mlabonte@crs.loc.gov, 7-0640 http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22331