Foreign holdings of U.S. debt hit record high in June

 WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Total foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury¹ securities rose to a new high in June, indicating strong international demand for U.S. government debt amid the simmering eurozone debt crisis, the U.S. Treasury Department reported Wednesday.

In June, overall foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities reached 5.2923 trillion U.S. dollars, up from the revised 5.2581 trillion dollars in May. It was the sixth consecutive² monthly increase.

According to the Treasury International capital report, China, the largest foreign holder³ of U.S. Treasury securities, slightly boosted its holdings by 0.3 billion dollars from May to 1.1643 trillion dollars in June.

Japan, the second largest foreign holder of U.S. government debt, increased its holdings from 1.1089 trillion dollars to 1.1193 trillion dollars.

The strong demand of U.S. government debt is key to funding its mounting deficit⁴, which is forecast to surpass 1 trillion dollars for the fourth consecutive fiscal⁵ year.

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

3 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

4 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

5 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。