EEUU recompra hasta 6.000 millones de dólares en bonos a largo plazo

The United States Treasury Department, under the leadership of Scott Bessent, is seeking to stabilize the public debt market through an expanded program of long-term bond purchases. The Department has announced a $6 billion purchase of U.S. public debt in the first re-purchase operation since Bessent expanded the program. This represents an increase from the Treasury's mid-August announcement, where they aimed to double their usual purchases of long-term bonds, reaching $4 billion.

The $6 billion purchase aims to support the stability of the $32 trillion U.S. Treasury bond market. Bessent's intervention is seen as a move to reassure markets, a role he has been tasked with by President Donald Trump. The Treasury Secretary hopes that the expanded re-purchase program will curb recent sales of long-term U.S. debt, which he insists is not reflective of the market's underlying fundamentals.

U.S. Treasury bond yields have risen following the announcement. The 10-year reference bond saw its yield increase by 0.05 percentage points during the trading day, reaching its highest level since late 2023. Similar increases were observed in the yields of 20 and 30-year bonds. Higher yields on long-term bonds increase the cost of financing for U.S. consumers, particularly in the case of mortgages, as well as for companies seeking capital.

U.S. debt yields also serve as a reference for assets valued in the trillions of dollars worldwide. The Treasury's new policy has faced criticism on Wall Street, with investors warning that it could undermine the credibility of the institution and hinder the Federal Reserve's efforts to curb persistent high inflation. Investors also doubt whether the operation will succeed in reducing bond yields.

The initial announcement of $4 billion in mid-August did not produce any lasting effect on bond yields, which currently sit near multi-year highs, driven by a full-employment economy, inflationary pressures from the war in Iran, and concerns over the growing U.S. deficit.