FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

The Treasury Department announced today that it expects to borrow a net of $46 billion in marketable debt during the January - March 2001 quarter and to target a cash balance of $45 billion on March 31. This includes the previously announced estimate of $9 billion of buybacks of Treasury marketable securities. In the quarterly announcement of its borrowing needs on October 30, 2000, the Treasury announced that it expected to borrow $20 billion in marketable debt and to target an end-of-quarter cash balance of $30 billion. The increase in borrowing is due primarily to a lower cash balance at the beginning of the quarter and a higher target cash balance on March 31.

The Treasury also announced that it expects to pay down $197 billion in marketable debt during the April - June 2001 quarter and to target a cash balance of $60 billion on June 30.

The Treasury paid down $26 billion in marketable debt during the October - December 2000 quarter and ended with a cash balance of $21 billion on December 31. On October 30, the Treasury announced that it expected to pay down $23 billion in marketable debt and to target an end-of-quarter cash balance of $30 billion. The lower cash balance was primarily the result of timing in the deposits of individual taxes, which were received in the first week of January 2001 instead of the last week of December 2000.

The Quarterly Refunding Press Conference will be held at 9:00AM on Wednesday, January 31, 2001.