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Rates & Fed · August 21, 2026 · 1 min read

Treasury Ramps Up Bond Buybacks as 30-Year Yield Hits Highest Since 2007

By Econ Data Tools Editorial Team

Published August 21, 2026

Bessent's Treasury doubled the size of its debt buyback operations to steady long-term rates as fiscal deficit concerns and Fed uncertainty push borrowing costs to two-decade highs.

- **Treasury doubles down on bond buybacks to fight yields.** The Treasury raised the ceiling on its debt buyback operations to at least $4 billion per session (from $2 billion), targeting 10- to 30-year bonds from September 9 through November 4. A buyback is when the government repurchases its own older bonds to add liquidity and ease upward pressure on rates — it worked short-term, pulling the 30-year yield down as much as 10 basis points (0.10 points) on the news, but that yield still sits near 5.2%, well above the roughly 4.63% level before the Middle East conflict began. - **30-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since 2007.** Yields touched 5.327% intraday on August 19 (the 10-year hit 4.747%, its highest since January 2025) as the CBO's 2026 deficit projection rose to $2.1 trillion — up $200 billion from its February estimate — and national debt nears $40 trillion. New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's unclear policy direction is adding to investor uncertainty, strategists say.

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