Introduction to Finance

TA B L E 8 . 1
Ownership of U.S. Treasury Securities (Percentage of Holdings)
2006 
(Sept)
2008 
(Sept)
2011 
(Sept)
2015 
(Sept)
Federal Reserve and government accounts
52.1%
49.4%
42.8%
41.3%
Private investors
Foreign and international investors
25.1
27.9
31.6
33.6
State and local governments
5.5
5.5
3.2
3.5 
U.S. savings bonds
2.4
2.1
1.2
1.0
Depository institutions
1.3
1.2
2.0
2.8
Insurance companies
1.9
4.7
1.7
1.6
Mutual funds
2.8
4.1
4.7
6.0
Pension funds
3.8
3.8
5.9
2.8
Other miscellaneous groups of investors*
5.1
1.3
6.9
7.4
Total private investors
47.9%
50.6%
57.2%
58.7%
Total U.S. agencies and private investors
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
Dollar Amount of Public Debt ($ Trillions)
$8.5
$9.5
$14.8
$18.2
*Includes individuals, corporations and other businesses, dealers and brokers, government-sponsored agencies, 
bank personal trusts and estates, and other investors.
Sources:
Economic Report of the President 
and Department of the Treasury, www.treasurydirect.gov.

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202
C H A PT E R 8 Interest Rates
Maturity Distribution of Marketable Debt Securities
The various types of marketable securities of the federal government have already been 
described in this section. However, the terms of bills, notes, and bonds describe the general 
maturity ranges only at the time of issue. To determine the maturity distribution of all obli-
gations, therefore, it is necessary to observe the remaining life of each issue, regardless of its 
class. The maturity distribution and average length of marketable interest-bearing public debt 
held by private investors are shown in