Treasury Secretary Bessent Defends Bond Market Amid Debt Concerns

On August 30, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters that worries about “bond market turmoil” are unfounded. He argued that U.S. government bonds are “the best performing” among global peers this year and that the United States remains on a stronger fiscal footing than many advanced economies because growth continues despite large budget deficits.

Reuters

• Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields ended the preceding Friday near 4.73%, having moved within a tight range over the past week.

Reuters

• Longer-dated yields have risen, pushing 30-year borrowing costs to a 19-year high.

Reuters

• The Treasury announced a program to double the size of regular buybacks of longer-dated debt to $4 billion per operation. Larger buybacks are scheduled to begin on September 10.

Reuters

Bessent said higher yields reflect confidence in the U.S. economy and are largely driven by temporary factors such as energy prices and inflationary pressures linked to the Iran conflict. Drawing parallels to past large-scale interventions, he noted that the European Central Bank under former President Mario Draghi and the Bank of Japan faced less scrutiny for similar actions.

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• “First of all, I'm not sure where the bond market turmoil is,” — Scott Bessent, treasury secretary

Reuters

The Treasury’s expanded buyback operations are set to commence on September 10, with the aim of tempering market volatility that typically rises in August when trading volume thins.

Reuters