(Archived Content)
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury is offering $70 billion of Treasury securities to refund approximately $63.5 billion of Treasury notes maturing on November 15, 2013. This will raise approximately $6.5 billion of new cash. The securities are:
- A 3-year note in the amount of $30 billion, maturing November 15, 2016;
- A 10-year note in the amount of $24 billion, maturing November 15, 2023; and
- A 30-year bond in the amount of $16 billion, maturing November 15, 2043.
The 3-year note will be auctioned on a yield basis at 1:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 12, 2013. The 10-year note will be auctioned on a yield basis at 1:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, November 13, 2013, and the 30-year bond will be auctioned on a yield basis at 1:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, November 14, 2013. All of these auctions will settle on Friday, November 15, 2013.
The balance of Treasury financing requirements will be met with the weekly bill auctions, cash management bills, the monthly note and bond auctions, the November 10-year Treasury Inflation Protected Security (TIPS) reopening auction, the December 5-year TIPS reopening auction, the January 10-year TIPS auction, and the initial January 2-year Floating Rate Note auction (FRN).
Projected Financing Needs
Since the August 2013 Quarterly Refunding, Treasury has incrementally reduced annual borrowing capacity by $60 billion through gradual reductions in 2- and 3- year coupon auction sizes. These reductions were in response to the ongoing improvement in the budget deficit.
Treasury intends to maintain coupon issuance sizes at current levels over the coming quarter. Treasury will continue to monitor projected financing needs and will make adjustments to auction sizes as necessary.
Floating Rate Notes (FRNs)
Treasury intends to announce the details of the initial Floating Rate Note (FRN) auction on Thursday, January 23, 2014, with the first auction occurring on Wednesday, January 29, 2014. Settlement of the security will occur on Friday, January 31, 2014.
The FRN is the first new product that Treasury has brought to market in 17 years. The FRN will have a maturity of two years and Treasury anticipates that the size of the first auction will be between $10 and $15 billion.
Specific terms and conditions of each FRN issue, including the auction date, issue date, and public offering amount, will be announced prior to each auction. For more details about the new Treasury FRN product, including a term sheet, FRN auction rules, and Frequently Asked Question, please see:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/instit/statreg/auctreg/auctreg.htm
In addition, a tentative auction calendar that includes Treasury FRNs can be found at:
http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/quarterly-refunding/Pages/default.aspx
Guidance for Treasury Inflation Protected Security (TIPS) Issuance in 2014
Treasury has received feedback from some market participants regarding the size and frequency of 5-year TIPS auctions. Specifically, some have suggested that smaller and more frequent 5-year TIPS auctions would improve the liquidity of the product. Treasury is studying the idea of offering two new 5-year TIPS CUSIPS each year followed by either one or two reopenings of each CUSIP. Treasury does not expect to change the auction sizes of 10-year and 30-year TIPS in 2014.
Treasury welcomes additional feedback on whether such a modification to the 5-year TIPS auction schedule would help us attain the lowest cost of funding for the taxpayer. Treasury will announce a decision regarding any change to the 5-year TIPS auction schedule as well as any increase to its gross issuance at the Quarterly Refunding on February 5, 2014.
Debt Limit
The debt limit places a limitation on the total amount of money that the United States government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and other payments. Raising the debt limit does not authorize new spending commitments; it simply allows the government to finance existing legal obligations that Congresses and presidents of both parties have made in the past.
The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 suspended the debt limit through February 7, 2014. A new debt limit will be calculated on February 8, 2014 in the manner prescribed by the Act. At that time, Treasury will have extraordinary measures available, which will allow the government to continue to finance its obligations for a period of time.
During the recent debt limit impasse, concerns that the debt limit would not be increased before extraordinary measures were exhausted led to significant disruptions in the secondary market for short-dated Treasury securities and a measurable increase in borrowing costs for newly issued Treasury bills. As such, Treasury respectfully urges Congress to provide certainty and stability to the economy and financial markets by acting to raise the debt limit well before February 7, 2014.
Please send comments and suggestions on these subjects or others related to debt management to debt.management@treasury.gov. The next quarterly refunding announcement will take place on Wednesday, February 5, 2014.
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