(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - China has dropped 97 percent of its holdings in U.S. Treasury bills, decreasing its ownership of the short-term U.S. government securities from a peak of $210.4 billion in May 2009 to $5.69 billion in March 2011, the most recent month reported by the U.S. Treasury.
Treasury bills are securities that mature in one year or less that are sold by the U.S. Treasury Department to fund the nation's debt.
Until October, the Chinese were generally making up for their decreasing holdings in Treasury bills by increasing their holdings of longer-term U.S. Treasury securities. Thus, until October, China's overall holdings of U.S. debt continued to increase. Infowars.com
FACTS & FIGURES
G20 leaders, in their November 2010 gathering in Seoul, expressed concerns over the stability of the dollar as a global reserve currency. Xinhua
Critics say the Fed is creating currency as a method to combat the liquidity trap. But they say the bailout plans have led banks to invest in foreign currencies which may lead to currency wars while China redirects its currency holdings away from the United States. Canada Space
The U.S. officially hit its $14.3 trillion debt ceiling on May 16, 2011. WSJ
The debt ceiling is a statutory limit Congress imposes on the amount of money the Treasury may borrow. Realclearpolitics.com
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