Graph and download economic data for Assets: Securities Held Outright: U.S. Treasury Securities: All: Wednesday Level (TREAST) from 2002-12-18 to 2025-11-26 about maturity, Treasury, securities, and USA.

The Federal Reserve's balance sheet has undergone significant changes since 2007, reflecting its response to major economic crises. From a modest *** trillion U.S. dollars at the end of 2007, it ballooned to approximately **** trillion U.S. dollars by October 29, 2025. This dramatic expansion, particularly during the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic—both of which resulted in negative annual GDP growth in the U.S.—showcases the Fed's crucial role in stabilizing the economy through expansionary monetary policies. Impact on inflation and interest rates The Fed's expansionary measures, while aimed at stimulating economic growth, have had notable effects on inflation and interest rates. Following the quantitative easing in 2020, inflation in the United States reached ***** percent in 2022, the highest since 1991. However, by August 2025, inflation had declined to *** percent. Concurrently, the Federal Reserve implemented a series of interest rate hikes, with the rate peaking at **** percent in August 2023, before the first rate cut since September 2021 occurred in September 2024. Financial implications for the Federal Reserve The expansion of the Fed's balance sheet and subsequent interest rate hikes have had significant financial implications. In 2024, the Fed reported a negative net income of ***** billion U.S. dollars, a stark contrast to the ***** billion U.S. dollars profit in 2022. This unprecedented shift was primarily due to rapidly rising interest rates, which caused the Fed's interest expenses to soar to over *** billion U.S. dollars in 2023. Despite this, the Fed's net interest income on securities acquired through open market operations reached a record high of ****** billion U.S. dollars in the same year.

View values of the average interest rate at which Treasury bills with a 3-month maturity are sold on the secondary market.

As of December 2024, Japan held United States treasury securities totaling about 1.06 trillion U.S. dollars. Foreign holders of United States treasury debt According to the Federal Reserve and U.S. Department of the Treasury, foreign countries held a total of 8.5 trillion U.S. dollars in U.S. treasury securities as of December 2024. Of the total held by foreign countries, Japan and Mainland China held the greatest portions, with China holding 759 billion U.S. dollars in U.S. securities. The U.S. public debt In 2023, the United States had a total public national debt of 33.2 trillion U.S. dollars, an amount that has been rising steadily, particularly since 2008. In 2023, the total interest expense on debt held by the public of the United States reached 678 billion U.S. dollars, while 197 billion U.S. dollars in interest expense were intra governmental debt holdings. Total outlays of the U.S. government were 6.1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. By 2029, spending is projected to reach 8.3 trillion U.S. dollars.

As of July 22, 2025, the yield for a ten-year U.S. government bond was 4.38 percent, while the yield for a two-year bond was 3.88 percent. This represents an inverted yield curve, whereby bonds of longer maturities provide a lower yield, reflecting investors' expectations for a decline in long-term interest rates. Hence, making long-term debt holders open to more risk under the uncertainty around the condition of financial markets in the future. That markets are uncertain can be seen by considering both the short-term fluctuations, and the long-term downward trend, of the yields of U.S. government bonds from 2006 to 2021, before the treasury yield curve increased again significantly in the following years. What are government bonds? Government bonds, otherwise called ‘sovereign’ or ‘treasury’ bonds, are financial instruments used by governments to raise money for government spending. Investors give the government a certain amount of money (the ‘face value’), to be repaid at a specified time in the future (the ‘maturity date’). In addition, the government makes regular periodic interest payments (called ‘coupon payments’). Once initially issued, government bonds are tradable on financial markets, meaning their value can fluctuate over time (even though the underlying face value and coupon payments remain the same). Investors are attracted to government bonds as, provided the country in question has a stable economy and political system, they are a very safe investment. Accordingly, in periods of economic turmoil, investors may be willing to accept a negative overall return in order to have a safe haven for their money. For example, once the market value is compared to the total received from remaining interest payments and the face value, investors have been willing to accept a negative return on two-year German government bonds between 2014 and 2021. Conversely, if the underlying economy and political structures are weak, investors demand a higher return to compensate for the higher risk they take on. Consequently, the return on bonds in emerging markets like Brazil are consistently higher than that of the United States (and other developed economies). Inverted yield curves When investors are worried about the financial future, it can lead to what is called an ‘inverted yield curve’. An inverted yield curve is where investors pay more for short term bonds than long term, indicating they do not have confidence in long-term financial conditions. Historically, the yield curve has historically inverted before each of the last five U.S. recessions. The last U.S. yield curve inversion occurred at several brief points in 2019 – a trend which continued until the Federal Reserve cut interest rates several times over that year. However, the ultimate trigger for the next recession was the unpredicted, exogenous shock of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, showing how such informal indicators may be grounded just as much in coincidence as causation.

In 2018, the average total volume of treasury securities traded per day was over 547 billion U.S. dollars. This means that every day the market was open, the average amount of U.S. government securities bought and sold amounted to half a trillion U.S. dollars in that year.

What are treasury securities?

Treasury securities are U.S. government debt, bonds sold to finance the United States government. Since the United States is seen as a guaranteed investment, these bonds are often used by large financial firms as collateral. The yield on a Treasury bond is minimal, but these institutions often do not hold them until maturity, instead trading them on secondary market.

Other options

The federal funds rate is the rate the Federal Reserve charges banks for overnight loans. Other assets, such as mortgaged backed securities, can also be used like treasury securities. Mortgage backed securities are bundles of home loans packaged together. Such bundling makes the overall security safer, unless there is a systemic shock to the housing market which would undermine the entire package.

United States - Reverse Repurchase Agreements: Treasury Securities Sold by the Federal Reserve in the Temporary Open Market Operations was 4.90300 Bil. of US $ in November of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Reverse Repurchase Agreements: Treasury Securities Sold by the Federal Reserve in the Temporary Open Market Operations reached a record high of 2553.71600 in December of 2022 and a record low of 0.00000 in November of 2019. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Reverse Repurchase Agreements: Treasury Securities Sold by the Federal Reserve in the Temporary Open Market Operations - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on November of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Debt Held by Foreign and International Investors (FDHBFIN) from Q1 1970 to Q2 2025 about foreign, debt, federal, and USA.

United States - Overnight Reverse Repurchase Agreements: Treasury Securities Sold by the Federal Reserve in the Temporary Open Market Operations was 5.88600 Bil. of US $ in November of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Overnight Reverse Repurchase Agreements: Treasury Securities Sold by the Federal Reserve in the Temporary Open Market Operations reached a record high of 2553.71600 in December of 2022 and a record low of 0.00000 in November of 2019. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Overnight Reverse Repurchase Agreements: Treasury Securities Sold by the Federal Reserve in the Temporary Open Market Operations - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on November of 2025.

U.S. Marketable Treasury securities that are sold to the public through the Treasury auction process.

Graph and download economic data for Term Reverse Repurchase Agreements: Treasury Securities Sold by the Federal Reserve in the Temporary Open Market Operations (RRPTMTSYD) from 2009-12-09 to 2021-04-01 about reverse repos, trade, Treasury, securities, sales, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Overnight Reverse Repurchase Agreements: Treasury Securities Sold by the Federal Reserve in the Temporary Open Market Operations (RRPONTSYD) from 2003-02-07 to 2025-12-02 about reverse repos, overnight, trade, Treasury, securities, sales, and USA.

When the Reagan administration first took office, it forecast federal-budget deficits of $45 billion for fiscal year (FY) 1982 and $23 billion for FY 1983, and it projected a balanced budget by FY 1985. Fiscal year 1982, however, ended in September with a record $110-billion deficit, and most budget analysts now expect a deficit of approximately $170 billion to $180 billion in FY 1983. Moreover, the deficit could easily remain above $100 billion through FY 1985 unless Congress cuts expenditures or increases taxes. The federal government must finance these deficits by selling Treasury securities either to the Federal Reserve System or to the public.

Graph and download economic data for Security Brokers and Dealers; Treasury Securities Sold Short; Liability, Market Value Levels (BOGZ1LM664161103A) from 1945 to 2024 about brokers, market value, dealers, liabilities, Treasury, securities, sales, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Security Brokers and Dealers; Treasury Securities Sold Short; Liability, Revaluation (BOGZ1FR664140615Q) from Q4 1946 to Q2 2025 about brokers, revaluation, dealers, liabilities, Treasury, securities, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Security Brokers and Dealers; Treasury Securities Sold Short; Liability, Level (BOGZ1FL664140615Q) from Q4 1945 to Q2 2025 about brokers, dealers, liabilities, Treasury, securities, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Security Brokers and Dealers; Corporate and Foreign Bond Securities Sold Short; Liability, Market Value Levels (BOGZ1LM664166303A) from 1945 to 2024 about brokers, market value, dealers, foreign, liabilities, bonds, corporate, securities, sales, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Security Brokers and Dealers; Corporate and Foreign Bond Securities Sold Short; Liability, Market Value Levels (BOGZ1LM664166303Q) from Q4 1945 to Q2 2025 about brokers, market value, dealers, foreign, liabilities, bonds, corporate, securities, sales, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Security Brokers and Dealers; Corporate and Foreign Bond Securities Sold Short; Liability, Revaluation (BOGZ1FR664140633Q) from Q4 1946 to Q2 2025 about brokers, revaluation, dealers, foreign, liabilities, bonds, corporate, securities, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Security Brokers and Dealers; Corporate and Foreign Bond Securities Sold Short; Liability, Transactions (BOGZ1FA664140633Q) from Q4 1946 to Q2 2025 about brokers, dealers, foreign, transactions, liabilities, bonds, corporate, securities, and USA.