Haven't heard of the Bureau of the Public Debt before? I bet you've heard of our "products" - like savings bonds and other Treasury securities.
We're a small agency within the Department of the Treasury with a mission as old as our Nation. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to borrow money on the credit of the United States. Essentially, we're here to take care of this borrowing and account for resulting debt.
Traditionally, this "borrowing and accounting" has described us. In a nutshell, we
borrow by selling Treasury bills, notes, bonds, TIPS, as well as savings bonds; we pay interest to
investors; and, when the time comes to pay back the loans, we redeem investors' securities.
Every time we borrow or pay back money, it affects the outstanding debt of the United States.
It's important that we keep track of the amount of this debt. You can learn all about our
securities and the public debt at TreasuryDirect.gov .
Not too long ago we expanded our mission to include providing administrative and information technology services to other parts of the Federal government. Through our Administrative Resource Center we provide accounting, human resource, procurement, travel, and information technology services to other Federal agencies—both within and outside Treasury. Unlike our securities and accounting programs, we must compete for these customers and, as you might imagine, this competition quite properly keeps us focused on service and efficiency. Find out more at arc.publicdebt.treas.gov.
Our programs serve customers from the largest financial institutions to individual investors and government agencies at the Federal, state and local level. But whether you are here to conduct business with us, interested in our career opportunities or just looking around, we welcome you to the Bureau of the Public Debt.
We hope you enjoy our website and that you find it informative and helpful.
Van Zeck
Commissioner