{
  "id": 2211289,
  "title": "Why Treasury Secretary Bessent’s moves to calm the bond market haven’t worked so far",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/why-treasury-secretary-bessents-moves-to-calm-the-bond-market-havent",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-20T19:53:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Associated Press",
    "slug": "associated-press",
    "url": "https://apnews.com/article/rates-bond-market-bessent-inflation-c6e148f8235a98245adf04b2d4bdd8d1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attempted to stabilize bond market rates on Thursday, August 20, 2026, but his actions did not yield the desired results, indicating that Wall Street investors remain apprehensive about escalating government debt, substantial borrowing by technology companies, and the Federal Reserve's dedication to combatting inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a crucial benchmark for mortgage rates, climbed back to 4.69%, close to its early Wednesday level before Bessent startled the market by announcing that Treasury would double the size of its bond buyback program to $4 billion per operation from $2 billion. These buybacks aim to decrease the supply of 10-year to 30-year bonds and increase their prices. When bond prices rise, yields fall. Bessent informed CNBC on Thursday that the bond repurchase program could surpass $4 billion. He added, \"We have a big toolkit, so we'll see,\" and stated that \"we believe that the yields don't reflect the underlying fundamentals.\" Rising bond yields escalate borrowing costs for both consumers and businesses, and the administration has made reducing interest rates a primary objective. Home purchases have declined this year as mortgage rates have increased. President Donald Trump has persistently called for the Federal Reserve to lower rates, but the persistent increases are primarily driven by financial markets. The 30-year bond yield reached 5.23% on Thursday, slightly lower than the 19-year peak hit on Tuesday. In addition to the bond buyback, Bessent also announced plans to reveal a new initiative to curtail the government's budget deficit, possibly by Monday. He argued that the deficit will peak this year, partly due to tariff refunds, a temporary factor. Although the deficit has been enormous for years, overall debt surpassed $40 trillion on Wednesday, a staggering record that occurred just months after the national debt first broke past the $39 trillion mark in April. The Congressional Budget Office projected earlier in the week that the annual gap between government revenue and spending would exceed $2 trillion this year, a remarkable figure beyond recessions. However, Gennadiy Goldberg, head of U.S. rates strategy at TD Securities, claimed that reducing the deficit is primarily the responsibility of Congress, not the Treasury Department.",
  "summary": "WASHINGTON (AP) — Interest rates rebounded Thursday despite efforts by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to put a lid on longer-term borrowing costs, a sign Wall Street investors remain worried about burgeoning government…",
  "key_points": [
    "Treasury Secretary Bessent's bond buyback program doubled to $4 billion per operation",
    "10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.69%, nearing early Wednesday levels",
    "Bessent stated yields don't reflect underlying fundamentals"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Fortune",
        "title": "Bessent becomes most interventionist Treasury chief in decades",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/bessent-becomes-most-interventionist-treasury-chief-in-decades",
        "published": "2026-08-20T19:07:36.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "CNBC",
        "title": "Warsh faces Fed independence test as Bessent moves in on central bank's turf",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/warsh-faces-fed-independence-test-as-bessent-moves-in-on-central",
        "published": "2026-08-20T20:02:18.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}