U.S. Department of the Treasury

(Archived Content)

This morning the Treasury issued its quarterly refunding statement, reflecting revised projections of the government’s borrowing needs for the next two quarters of the 2003 fiscal year. Under these projections, debt subject to limit is expected to reach the statutory ceiling of $6,400 billion on or about February 20th and will likely remain above the current debt ceiling thereafter.

If the statutory debt ceiling is not raised, the Treasury will have to begin to use a number of stopgap devices – some costly - to manage debt subject to limit, which have been previously utilized under established legal authority.

On current projections, this additional limited borrowing capacity may only be adequate to meet the government’s needs until the beginning of April, when recurring benefit and tax refund payments occur.

The Treasury will continue to work with Congress to ensure the government’s ability to finance its operations. Prompt action by Congress to raise the debt ceiling is necessary to ensure success in our efforts to combat terrorism, continue the economic recovery and maintain the soundness of federal government securities.