US Treasury Secretary Bessent: Treasury Buybacks Aim to Calm Market "Euphoria"

On September 9, US Treasury Secretary Bessent stated that last month's expansion of the Treasury buyback program was intended to calm the "euphoric" sentiment forming in the bond market and push market prices back toward equilibrium. Bessent said he cannot change the market equilibrium price but hopes to reduce excessive speculation in the market. He noted that if investors truly worried about US debt creditworthiness, they should sell Treasuries and buy German bunds, but current market behavior does not reflect that. Bessent denied that the Treasury's bond buybacks are equivalent to Federal Reserve quantitative easing, saying the measure is more similar to the Fed's past "Operation Twist." The expansion of the buyback program comes against the backdrop of the 30-year Treasury yield rising to its highest level since 2007.