MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES
(in billions of dollars)

.............................2004.....2003.....2002
COUNTRY..............Aug......Aug......Aug

Japan...................721.9....471.4....364.6 +++
Mainland.China....172.3....148.4....102.3 +++ 
United.Kingdom...134.8.....84.0.....69.7 +++ 
Caribbean Banking...91.3.....53.5.....33.0 +++ 
Korea......................63.4.....59.5.....35.8 +++ 
Taiwan...................56.4.....46.4.....38.7 +++ 
Hong.Kong.............49.4.....43.7.....48.0 
Switzerland...........48.9.....44.2.....34.2 +++ 
Germany................48.3.....47.0.....35.0 +++ 
OPEC......................43.1.....40.6.....53.1 
Mexico...................35.6.....25.5.....25.6 +++ 
Canada..................33.1.....22.5......8.1 +++ 
Luxembourg..........26.4.....26.8.....22.8 +++ 
Singapore..............26.0.....24.9.....19.4 +++ 
Ireland..................21.7.....14.9......8.5 +++ 
Turkey..................16.4.....16.4.....12.2 +++ 
Brazil....................16.2.....12.7.....10.9 +++ 
Italy......................14.8.....16.9.....18.0 --- 
Thailand...............14.8.....14.6.....18.1 --- 
Belgium................14.1.....14.2.....13.3 
India.....................14.0.....13.7......9.6 +++ 
Israel....................12.5.....12.0.....11.2 
France...................10.2.....18.7.....23.0 ---
Sweden.................10.1.....11.4......9.4 
Spain.......................9.2.....17.7.....17.5 --- 
Netherlands............7.3.....17.9.....10.6 --- 
Australia.................6.6.....10.4......9.5 --- 
All Other.............120.8....116.5....109.8 
Grand Totals.....1839.6...1446.4...1171.9 

Source: http://www.ustreas.gov/tic/mfh.txt 

These numbers show which countries are propping up the U.S. deficits, and which are not. 

I put a '+++' next to those which are subscribing heavily to US Treasury securities. 

'---' is for those who are disinvesting as fast as they can.

Remember, these are loans, and they aren't free.

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Updated: Sunday, October 24, 2004      Powered by: