The U.K. and France, two of Europe’s largest economies after Germany, each boosted their holdings of U.S. Treasuries by more than 26 percent in April amid the fiscal crisis in the euro region, while total international demand for U.S. financial assets slowed. The U.K.’s portfolio of Treasuries rose 26.5 percent to $154.2 billion, while France’s holdings increased 29.4 percent to $59.4 billion, the Treasury Department said today in Washington. China remained the largest international buyer of Treasuries, as its holdings rose $1.5 billion to $1.15 trillion, according to the Treasury. “Uncertainty and fear over whether the euro will survive are driving money into the safe haven of U.S. Treasuries and the elections in Greece are front and center in this debate of ‘will they stay or will they go,’� Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York, said in an e-mail. “Safe haven flows from Europe are driving yields down here and the trend is likely to continue until Europe finds a way to stop the crisis from spreading.� Elections in Greece on June 17 will set the stage for determining whether the country is prepared to stand by its international bailout commitments. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected quick solutions proposed to fix Europe’s financial crisis such as joint debt sharing, saying Germany can’t save the world economy alone and fellow Group of 20 countries must help. Equities, Bonds Net buying of U.S. long-term equities, notes and bonds totaled $25.6 billion during April, down from net purchases of $36 billion the month before, the Treasury said. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected net buying of $45 billion of long-term assets, according to the median estimate. Germany, Europe’s largest economy, increased its portfolio of U.S. Treasuries by $1 billion to $65.6 billion in April. Foreign holdings of U.S. Treasuries reflect both private and official purchases. Treasuries climbed, set for a weekly gain, amid speculation a slowing U.S. economy will prompt the Federal Reserve to add stimulus measures, stoking investor demand for safety. The 10-year yield dropped six basis points, or 0.06 percentage point, to 1.58 percent at 12:34 p.m. New York time, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader data. It touched 1.5688 percent, the lowest level since June 8. Foreign Purchases Estimates of foreign purchases of long-term U.S. assets in April ranged from net buying of $20 billion to $70 billion, according to six economists surveyed by Bloomberg before the report. Including short-term securities such as stock swaps, foreigners sold a net $20.5 billion, compared with net selling of $48.6 billion in the previous month. To contact the reporter on this story: Meera Louis in Washington at mlouis1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net

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