Foreign central banks boost US debt holdings - Fed

NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) - Foreign central banks were net buyers of U.S. Treasury debt and U.S. federal agency debt in the latest week, U.S. Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday.

The Fed said its holdings of Treasury and agency debt kept for overseas central banks rose $9.43 billion in the week ended June 4 to stand at $2.3021 trillion.

The breakdown showed overseas central banks bought $8.44 billion in Treasury debt, leaving the total at $1.350 trillion.

Foreign institutions bought securities from government-sponsored agencies like Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research), adding $988 million to those holdings to stand at $952.37 billion.

Overseas central banks, particularly those in Asia, have been huge buyers of U.S. debt in recent years, and own over a quarter of marketable Treasuries.

The full Fed report can be found on:

here (Reporting by Chris Reese; Editing by James Dalgleish)