US Treasury Triples Long-Term Debt Buyback to $6 Billion in Bid to Stabilize Bond Markets

The US Treasury announced on Wednesday that it will buy back up to $6 billion in longer-dated government debt on September 10, tripling the size of its normal buyback operation. The purchase targets 10-to-20-year bonds in an operation lasting 20 minutes and concluding at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday. The move goes beyond Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's August 19 pledge to at least double the standard $2 billion maximum, and some analysts had speculated the department could go even further, to $8 billion or $10 billion.

The buyback is framed as a liquidity support measure for the long end of the Treasury market, a segment that has faced a buyers' strike since late June. Treasury yields at the long end have surged to levels not seen since before the 2008 global financial crisis, pressured by a combination of surging government debt that recently crossed $40 trillion, elevated inflation concerns tied to tariffs, and rising energy prices after crude oil topped $100 a barrel.

Market reaction to the announcement was notably negative despite the scale of the intervention. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose nearly 4 basis points to 4.841% following the news, suggesting investors viewed the $6 billion figure as falling short of what would be needed to meaningfully cap yields.