Mon Aug 2, 2004

WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Foreigners now own 50 percent of privately-held U.S. government debt, according to data released on Monday by the Treasury Department.

A graph included in an analysis of Treasury's borrowing needs showed that as of May 31, foreign holdings made up half of total privately held public debt, which excludes Federal Reserve holdings.

A Treasury official said the 50 percent figure was a record in the data series, but it was not immediately clear how far back the data series measured. Foreign holdings made up about 20 percent of total U.S. debt in early 1993.

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