You haven't heard of the Bureau of the Public Debt before? We're a small agency within the Department of the Treasury. Our customers are your neighbors, co-workers, and most likely you, too. You're our customer if you've ever bought any type of Treasury security for yourself or, as millions have done in the case of savings bonds, as a gift for someone else.
Our job is to borrow the money needed to operate the federal government and to account for the resulting debt. In a nutshell, we borrow by selling Treasury bills, notes, and bonds, as well as U.S. 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.
We also provide reimbursable administrative, financial management and information technology services to a variety of Federal government entities through our Administrative Resource Center (ARC).