Central Banks Shed Most US Debt Since 2014 as Dollar Needs Jump

Foreign central banks liquidated Treasury holdings at the fastest clip in nine years and tapped a key Federal Reserve facility to raise cash as banking stress roils markets.

Fed data show foreign official holdings of Treasury securities fell by $76 billion in the week through March 22 to $2.86 trillion. That’s the largest weekly decline since March 2014.

At the same time, the US central bank’s recently-established Foreign and International Monetary Authorities, or FIMA, repurchase agreement facility was tapped for a record $60 billion, data show, dwarfing the $1.4 billion peak reached during the height of the pandemic.

The ...