Overview< BACK
The Treasury Department’s primary goal in debt management is to finance
government borrowing needs at the lowest cost over time. We believe the best way
to meet this objective is to issue debt in a regular and predictable pattern, provide
transparency in our decision-making process, and seek continuous improvements in
the auction process. The risks to regular and predictable issuance result from unexpected
changes in our borrowing requirements, changes in the demand for our securities,
and anything that inhibits timely sales of our securities. To reduce these risks,
we closely monitor economic conditions, fiscal policy and market activity, and,
if necessary, respond with appropriate changes in debt issuance based on analysis and consultation with market participants.
Changes in debt management policy are generally developed through the quarterly
refunding process near the middle of each calendar quarter. We
begin this process by soliciting advice and views from the private
sector through questions
to primary dealers. We encourage responses to these questions
from all interested parties and we interview half of the twenty
primary
dealers each quarter through face-to-face meetings.
Following
the primary dealer meetings, we solicit advice from the Treasury
Borrowing Advisory Committee (a committee of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) falling under the regulations of the Federal
Advisory Committee Act and the Government
Securities Act). The Committee’s membership includes
representatives from firms that actively trade Treasury securities
and firms that make large investments in Treasury securities. The
Committee responds to questions and discussion
charts presented by Treasury via a formal report to
the Secretary of the Treasury. The minutes to
these meeting are made public. Our decisions on changes in debt
management policy, based on our analyses and the advice we receive
from the private sector, are made public in a statement by
an Administration official.
While specific changes in debt management policy are usually announced
through quarterly refunding statements, they may be announced in separate press releases and may be elaborated upon in speeches and
presentations by Treasury officials. In addition, Treasury encourages
the public to send views on debt management to debt.management@do.treas.gov.
Last Updated:
April 25, 2008
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