Treasury To Boost Bill Supply And Hold More Cash For Emergencies

The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that it plans to issue more short-term Treasury bills given growing demand. The department also said it plans to boost the average level of its cash balance so the government can function if there was an unexpected disruption to the financial system. Treasury made the announcements when it disclosed the size of its quarterly refunding auctions. The department said it will sell $64 billion in notes and bonds next week. The agency will auction $24 billion in 3-year notes, $24 billion in 10-year notes and $16 billion in 30-year bonds. The size is unchanged from the prior auction in February. Treasury did not provide a timeline of when it will exhaust the extraordinary measures it is using to stay below the debt limit. Economists estimate Congress has until November to increase the debt ceiling or the government would default on its debt.