Bessent has no easy fix for what’s really driving yields up
U.S. Treasury chief's drive to get borrowing costs down before November's midterm election is running into forces beyond his control that are pushing them up.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrived at his role criticizing his predecessor for attempting to overhaul the largest bond market globally. Recently, he attempted a similar approach, announcing plans to repurchase long-term U.S. debt by selling more short-dated securities. This strategy, dubbed a "Treasury twist," was a reference to the Federal Reserve's 1960s plan to manipulate Treasury yields.
Bessent argued that the current yields were out of sync with their "equilibrium" levels. Initially, the announcement caused a significant drop in yields on long bonds the following day. However, they swiftly rebounded to their peak levels of the week, closing at 4.73%, a level near the highest since Bessent assumed office.
Written by urgent.news from Japan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
Also reported by 1 other outlet
- Bessent has no easy fix for what’s really driving yields up financialpost.com
