As noted by many including Brad Setser and Yves Smith, in August 2008, foreign central banks added close to $46 billion ($45.92b) to their custodial holdings of Treasuries at the New York Fed. Also in August, they reduced their holdings of Agencies by a bit over $13 billion ($13.33b).
What this may mean to the U.S. is that if and when Fannie and Freddie cannot find buyers for their bonds at a do-able interest rate, Fannie and Freddie must at that point cease to exist in their current form, by government bailout or otherwise.
Here is the chart:
(Link: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/09/setser-if-trends-continueagencies-wont.html)
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