Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that the department will double the size of longer‑dated Treasury buybacks to at least $4 billion per operation in the next quarter, aiming to ease high yields in a market that has been pressured by thin August trading and a surge in corporate issuance.

Bessent, a former hedge fund manager with experience in sovereign debt, said the recent rise in long‑dated yields to near two‑decade highs was unwarranted given the strength of the U.S. economy and the administration’s plans to curb spending. He added that the buyback program is intended to signal confidence that yields do not reflect underlying fundamentals, noting the market’s reaction to the government’s fiscal stance and to a large volume of higher‑yield corporate bonds, including those financing artificial‑intelligence infrastructure.

The Treasury announced the expanded buybacks on Wednesday, a move that briefly lowered the 30‑year yield by the most in a day since October before the decline was partially reversed. By Thursday the 30‑year yield settled at 5.24%, about 10 basis points below its peak on Tuesday, the highest level since June 2007.

Bessent also indicated that the Treasury will work with budget director Russell Vought on a fiscal consolidation effort directed by President Donald Trump, targeting waste and fraud that could save several hundred billion dollars. He said the $40 trillion debt figure is not a magic number and that the administration expects economic growth to reduce the debt burden, while acknowledging that interest payments have already reached nearly $1.2 trillion this fiscal year.

Higher yields increase borrowing costs for businesses and households; the 30‑year fixed‑rate mortgage rate rose by more than half a percentage point to its highest level in a year after the United States and Iran exchanged attacks in late February, a development that has also lifted energy costs and inflation and limited expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts.

The Treasury’s intervention may provide only short‑term relief, and the bond market will continue to monitor upcoming fiscal policy and the pace of corporate issuance.