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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday said he may increase again the volume of c the government will repurchase, a day after surprising the market with plans to double them. "We're going to increase the size of the buyback," Bessent said in a CNBC interview. "I would note that it could be more than the $4 bn per issue." The Treasury on Wednesday announced that it would double the size of buybacks on longer-dated securities over the next quarter to at least $4bn, a move that stanched this week's rise in 30-year bond yields to 19-year highs. The 30-year yield had rebounded earlier on Thursday, but Bessent's comments briefly curbed the increase. It last traded at 5.24%. Bessent told CNBC that his objective was to support liquidity in an area of the market that is thinly traded, especially in August, while having to compete with a lot of corporate issuance at higher yields, including for artificial intelligence infrastructure. "Part of it is signaling here, and to show that we believe that the yields don't reflect the underlying fundamentals. This Iran conflict, we will get on the other side of this, we don't know when," Bessent said. A day after total US public debt outstanding crossed the symbolic $40tn threshold, Bessent said he and White House budget director Russell Vought will be embarking on a new fiscal consolidation effort directed by President Donald Trump, and that combined with efforts to cut waste, fraud and abuse, savings of "several hundred billion dollars" could be found. He added that there was "nothing magic about the $40tn figure" and that the US would grow its way out of the debt. In the meantime, he said that the deficit this year has been pushed up by refunds of Trump's tariffs declared illegal by the Supreme Court, a phenomenon that would not be repeated next year, as new tariffs are being implemented under other trade laws that have withstood court challenges. He added that he expected 2026 tariff revenues to match those of 2025, but did not specify whether he was referring to calendar or fiscal years. Also curbing revenues is a wave of factory and data center construction that is being immediately expensed against corporate profits under the Republican 2025 tax cut act, causing a drop in corporate tax revenues, Bessent said. 

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng stressed that China's resolve to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests is unwavering, adding that Beijing will resolutely safeguard its national interests and the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese-funded enterprises abroad.During his meeting in Madrid with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Lifeng explained that China and the US will benefit from cooperation and lose from confrontation.During the talks, the two sides held in-depth and constructive discussions on economic and trade issues of common concern, according to the Chinese vice premier. The two sides reached a basic framework consensus on resolving TikTok-related issues through cooperation, reducing investment barriers, and enhancing relevant economic and trade cooperation.He stressed that the two will consult on relevant outcome documents and complete their respective domestic approval procedures.The US side called on China to work alongside one another and lift relevant restrictions as soon as possible. It also called for concrete actions to preserve the hard-won achievements of the talks and continue to create a favorable environment for the stability of China-US economic and trade relations.The US added that during the talks, both sides acknowledged that stable economic and trade relations between China and the US are of great importance to both countries and have a significant impact on global economic stability and development.The two sides will continue to implement the important consensus reached by the heads of state in their phone conversations, as well as the outcomes of previous economic and trade talks, make full use of the role of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism, continue to enhance mutual understanding, resolve differences, strengthen cooperation, and strive for more win-win results, thus promoting healthy, stable, and sustainable development of bilateral economic and trade relations and injecting greater stability into the global economy.