Bessent Calls Treasury Buybacks a Success, Cites Strong Auction Demand

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has described the department's recent purchases of longer-dated government debt as a success, pointing to strong demand at two subsequent Treasury auctions.

The buybacks, the largest undertaken by the Treasury last week, were intended to inject liquidity into the market and to push back against rising bond yields that have been adding to the government's debt-servicing costs. Yields nonetheless climbed after the operation.

Speaking at a congressional hearing, Bessent addressed the question of how the market might have behaved without the intervention. "There is a counterfactual of what would it have done -- and we then proceeded to have the two most successful Treasury auctions that we've had in 20 years," he said.

He also said the US bond market has been the best performing among developed economies since President Trump took office.

The remarks offer the Treasury's assessment of a move that drew attention for its scale and its timing, as officials weigh tools to manage borrowing costs and market functioning.