U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has played down concerns over the bond market selloff this week as benchmark Treasury yields top 4.8%.

Here' s what he said at a G-20 finance ministers' gathering in Asheville, N.C.:

-- "The world is awash in debt...and the only way for us to get out of this is to grow our way out of this." (Our chief economics commentator Greg Ip is skeptical of that.)

-- "I don't think we are in any kind of a dire situation...The U.S. bond market has been the best-performing bond market. What happens over a month doesn't matter."