Russia Continues Selling Off Billions of Dollars in US Debt

11:16 GMT, 1 February 2019

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According to US Treasury Department data, foreign investors, including China, Japan, Russia, and many others, cut their reserves of American debt in November 2018 by $105 billion from a year earlier, to $6.2 trillion.

Sputnik

The freshly released data from the US Treasury Department indicates that Russia reduced its holdings of American debt by $1.815 billion last November to $12.814 billion from October. Some $3.75 billion were invested into long-term obligations, while $9.1 billion poured into short-term ones.

The three biggest holders of US sovereign debt are China with $1.138 trillion, Japan with $1.036 trillion and Brazil with $311 billion. The data also shows that China, as the largest holder of US debt, cut its holdings to $1.12 trillion, reaching the lowest level since November 2017.

Moscow Can Cope With Possible US Sanctions Against Russia's Debt

7 November 2018, 09:30 GMT

Last year, the US Treasury announced that Russia had left the list of the biggest shareholders of US sovereign debt, having slashed it by 84 percent or $81 billion worth of US treasury noted between March and May 2018.

The timing of the move overlapped with the imposition of a new round of sanctions against United Co. Rusal, a Russian aluminium producer, with Russia’s Central Bank explaining that the decision was part of a plan to diversify holdings.