Don't really know what is going on here or how much credibility to give this story LINK1 and LINK2 but it appears that Belgium has suddenly become a massive purchaser of US Treasuries since August of 2013 entities in Belgium have purchased and held a stunning $215 billion of U.S. Treasuries as the chart be below shows. IS Belgium buying on behalf of Russian oligarchs, China, the European Central Bank or is the US Treasury covertly buying them whilst officially winding down its Quantitative Easing Policy? To Quote the Market Oracle:
"Over the last six months Belgium has started to behave eccentrically, even by Belgian standards. No, the small country of 11 million has not decided to stop making chocolate or waffles. It has decided to increase its buying of U.S. Treasury bonds...in a very big way. According to latest U.S. Treasury Department data, since August of 2013 entities in Belgium have purchased and held a stunning $215 billion of U.S. Treasuries. This figure is equivalent to about half the country's annual GDP, and equates to almost $20,000 for every living Belgian. Prior to that time, Belgium had held its cache fairly steady at around $170-$190 billion. But by March, that total had increased by almost 130% (to $381 billion) in just seven months. The purchases represented 61% of the total increase in foreign holdings of U.S. Treasuries over that time frame. Given the fact that Belgium, as of last September, had less than 3% of the Treasury bonds held by foreign sources, this is strange behavior indeed. "
It has been a bit of a mystery as to how US bond yields have been falling despite the Federal Reserve's official tapering, record printing of money and record fiscal deficits in recent years combined with steep rises in the US national debt.
"Over the last six months Belgium has started to behave eccentrically, even by Belgian standards. No, the small country of 11 million has not decided to stop making chocolate or waffles. It has decided to increase its buying of U.S. Treasury bonds...in a very big way. According to latest U.S. Treasury Department data, since August of 2013 entities in Belgium have purchased and held a stunning $215 billion of U.S. Treasuries. This figure is equivalent to about half the country's annual GDP, and equates to almost $20,000 for every living Belgian. Prior to that time, Belgium had held its cache fairly steady at around $170-$190 billion. But by March, that total had increased by almost 130% (to $381 billion) in just seven months. The purchases represented 61% of the total increase in foreign holdings of U.S. Treasuries over that time frame. Given the fact that Belgium, as of last September, had less than 3% of the Treasury bonds held by foreign sources, this is strange behavior indeed. "
It has been a bit of a mystery as to how US bond yields have been falling despite the Federal Reserve's official tapering, record printing of money and record fiscal deficits in recent years combined with steep rises in the US national debt.
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