Treasury eyes $1 trillion cash pile to expand long-bond buybacks
What's new: Officials said the Treasury General Account could fund purchases beyond the new $4 billion minimum, giving Washington more sway over long-term yields.
The US Treasury is weighing whether to use its roughly $950 billion Treasury General Account to help finance a bigger program of long-dated bond buybacks, according to two senior Treasury officials cited by CNBC. The idea would add firepower to last week’s surprise move to at least double purchases of off-the-run 10- to 30-year securities from $2 billion to $4 billion. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the operations could grow further as Washington tries to pull down borrowing costs after 30-year yields climbed to their highest level in nearly two decades. Markets initially rallied on the buyback plan, but yields later rose again as investors questioned how much impact Treasury could have.