Analysis: US Expands Treasury Buyback Program, Market Skeptical It Can Ease Fiscal Pressure
Odaily News: The U.S. Treasury Department said it will buy back up to $6 billion in longer-term government bonds on Thursday, the first such operation since Treasury Secretary Bessent expanded the buyback program, aimed at curbing the recent rise in borrowing costs. The maximum size of this buyback is three times the $2 billion originally announced to investors in early August. That original plan was canceled in a surprise announcement on August 19, when the Treasury said it would "at least double" the size of such operations. Following the announcement, 20-year to 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds, the targets of Thursday's buyback, extended their declines, with the 30-year Treasury yield briefly rising to 5.38% intraday, close to the roughly 5.40% high earlier this month and the highest level since 2007.
Facing criticism that the move amounts to market intervention and cannot address fundamental fiscal challenges, Bessent defended the expansion of Treasury buybacks, saying he took action because he believed market prices were "deviating" from equilibrium levels. The Institute of International Finance (IIF) warned on Wednesday that attempting to use "financial engineering" cannot resolve underlying debt dynamics, and that interventions such as purchasing securities in the secondary market "may bring temporary relief, but cannot address the structural factors driving debt growth."

