DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS 

February 17, 2009 Contact: Treasury Public Affairs 

EMBARGOED UNTIL 9:00 AM (202) 622-2960 

TREASURY INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL DATA FOR DECEMBER 

Washington – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today released Treasury International Capital 

(TIC) data for December 2008. The next release, which will report on data for January 2009, is 

scheduled for March 16, 2009. 

Net foreign purchases of long-term securities were $34.8 billion. 

• Net foreign purchases of long-term U.S. securities were $22.4 billion. Of this, net purchases 

by private foreign investors were $25.2 billion, and net purchases by foreign official 

institutions were negative $2.8 billion. 

• U.S. residents sold a net $12.4 billion of long-term foreign securities. 

Net foreign acquisition of long-term securities, taking into account adjustments, is estimated to have 

been $24.4 billion. 

Foreign holdings of dollar-denominated short-term U.S. securities, including Treasury bills, and 

other custody liabilities increased $2.1 billion. Foreign holdings of Treasury bills increased $25.3 

billion. 

Banks’ own net dollar-denominated liabilities to foreign residents increased $47.5 billion. 

Monthly net TIC flows were $74.0 billion. Of this, net foreign private flows were $65.7 billion, and 

net foreign official flows were $8.2 billion. 

Complete data is available on the Treasury website at www.treas.gov/tic. 
12 Months Through

2006 2007 Dec-07 Dec-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08

Foreigners' Acquisitions of Long-term Securities

1 Gross Purchases of Domestic U.S. Securities 21077.1 29730.6 29730.6 30674.1 3081.9 2492.1 1546.6 1480.5

2 Gross Sales of Domestic U.S. Securities 19933.9 28724.8 28724.8 30261.6 3051.9 2528.7 1606.7 1458.1

3 Domestic Securities Purchased, net (line 1 less line 2) /1 1143.2 1005.8 1005.8 412.5 30.0 -36.6 -60.1 22.4

4 Private, net /2 946.6 818.1 818.1 309.1 34.8 -19.4 -22.9 25.2

5 Treasury Bonds & Notes, net 125.9 195.0 195.0 239.4 15.8 34.0 0.4 11.1

6 Gov't Agency Bonds, net 193.8 99.9 99.9 -6.2 14.8 -33.5 -10.9 -24.6

7 Corporate Bonds, net 482.2 342.8 342.8 58.6 -7.3 -13.8 -15.3 37.5

8 Equities, net 144.6 180.4 180.4 17.4 11.5 -6.1 2.8 1.2

9 Official, net /3 196.6 187.7 187.7 103.4 -4.8 -17.2 -37.1 -2.8

10 Treasury Bonds & Notes, net 69.6 3.0 3.0 76.6 4.9 -1.1 -26.2 3.9

11 Gov't Agency Bonds, net 92.6 119.1 119.1 -31.5 -8.7 -16.7 -11.6 -12.9

12 Corporate Bonds, net 28.6 50.6 50.6 34.9 -1.2 0.7 -0.9 3.5

13 Equities, net 5.8 15.1 15.1 23.4 0.0 -0.1 1.6 2.6

14 Gross Purchases of Foreign Securities from U.S. Residents 5515.9 8187.6 8187.6 7694.6 710.0 645.3 411.6 352.1

15 Gross Sales of Foreign Securities to U.S. Residents 5766.8 8416.8 8416.8 7592.6 674.7 609.0 377.2 339.7

16 Foreign Securities Purchased, net (line 14 less line 15) /4 -250.9 -229.2 -229.2 102.1 35.3 36.3 34.5 12.4

17 Foreign Bonds Purchased, net -144.5 -133.9 -133.9 82.0 37.8 14.6 13.2 12.3

18 Foreign Equities Purchased, net -106.5 -95.3 -95.3 20.1 -2.5 21.7 21.3 0.1

19 Net Long-Term Securities Transactions (line 3 plus line 16): 892.3 776.6 776.6 514.6 65.3 -0.4 -25.6 34.8

20 Other Acquisitions of Long-term Securities, net /5 -174.6 -235.1 -235.1 -196.8 -13.5 -14.8 -12.0 -10.4

21 Net Foreign Acquisition of Long-Term Securities

(lines 19 and 20): 717.7 541.5 541.5 317.8 51.8 -15.2 -37.6 24.4

22 Increase in Foreign Holdings of Dollar-denominated Short-term

U.S. Securities and Other Custody Liabilities: /6 146.2 198.0 198.0 240.8 13.0 92.0 51.1 2.1

23 U.S. Treasury Bills -9.0 49.7 49.7 456.0 90.9 147.4 82.1 25.3

24 Private, net 16.1 28.1 28.1 196.5 59.7 63.6 15.5 -5.4

25 Official, net -25.0 21.5 21.5 259.5 31.2 83.8 66.6 30.7

26 Other Negotiable Instruments 

and Selected Other Liabilities: /7 155.1 148.4 148.4 -215.2 -77.9 -55.4 -31.0 -23.2

27 Private, net 174.9 72.2 72.2 -95.8 -69.5 -17.5 -6.9 -5.1

28 Official, net -19.8 76.2 76.2 -119.4 -8.4 -37.9 -24.1 -18.1

29 Change in Banks' Own Net Dollar-Denominated Liabilities 198.0 -122.9 -122.9 39.1 91.1 196.3 47.7 47.5

30 Monthly Net TIC Flows (lines 21,22,29) /8 1061.8 616.7 616.7 597.8 155.9 273.1 61.3 74.0

of which

31 Private, net 923.0 327.5 327.5 422.1 138.7 261.3 70.2 65.7

32 Official, net 138.9 289.2 289.2 175.6 17.3 11.9 -9.0 8.2

/1 Net foreign purchases of U.S. securities (+)

/2 Includes international and regional organizations

/3 The reported division of net purchases of long-term securities between net purchases by foreign official institutions and net purchases 

of other foreign investors is subject to a "transaction bias" described in Frequently Asked Questions 7 and 10.a.4 on the TIC web site. 

/4 Net transactions in foreign securities by U.S. residents. Foreign purchases of foreign securities = U.S. sales of foreign securities to foreigners.

Thus negative entries indicate net U.S. purchases of foreign securities, or an outflow of capital from the United States; positive entries

indicate net U.S. sales of foreign securities.

/5 Minus estimated unrecorded principal repayments to foreigners on domestic corporate and agency asset-backed securities +

estimated foreign acquisitions of U.S. equity through stock swaps -

estimated U.S. acquisitions of foreign equity through stock swaps +

increase in nonmarketable Treasury Bonds and Notes Issued to Official Institutions and Other Residents of Foreign Countries.

/6 These are primarily data on monthly changes in banks' and broker/dealers' custody liabilities. Data on custody claims are collected 

quarterly and published in the Treasury Bulletin and the TIC web site.

/7 "Selected Other Liabilities" are primarily the foreign liabilities of U.S. customers that are managed by U.S. banks or broker/dealers.

/8 TIC data cover most components of international financial flows, but do not include data on direct investment flows, which are collected 

and published by the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis. In addition to the monthly data summarized here, the

TIC collects quarterly data on some banking and nonbanking assets and liabilities. Frequently Asked Question 1 on the TIC web 

site describes the scope of TIC data collection.

TIC Monthly Reports on Cross-Border Financial Flows

(Billions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted)

2