View original document

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Quarterly Refunding Statement of Assistant Secretary for Financial
Markets Josh Frost
May 3, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of the Treasury is offering $96 billion of Treasury securities to
refund approximately $75.2 billion of privately-held Treasury notes maturing on May 15, 2023. This
issuance will raise new cash from private investors of approximately $20.8 billion. The securities
are:
A 3-year note in the amount of $40 billion, maturing May 15, 2026;
A 10-year note in the amount of $35 billion, maturing May 15, 2033; and
A 30-year bond in the amount of $21 billion, maturing May 15, 2053.
The 3-year note will be auctioned at 1:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 9, 2023. The 10-year note will be
auctioned at 1:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. The 30-year bond will be auctioned at 1:00
p.m. ET on Thursday, May 11, 2023. All of these auctions will take place on a yield basis and will
settle on Monday, May 15, 2023.
The balance of Treasury financing requirements over the quarter will be met with regular weekly
bill auctions, cash management bills (CMBs), and monthly note, bond, Treasury Inflation-Protected
Securities (TIPS), and 2-year Floating Rate Note (FRN) auctions.

PROJECTED FINANCING NEEDS AND ISSUANCE PLANS
Treasury believes that current issuance sizes leave it well-positioned for its near-term borrowing
needs, and as such, intends to keep nominal coupon and FRN new issue and reopening auction
sizes unchanged during the May 2023 – July 2023 quarter. However, based on projected
intermediate- to long-term borrowing needs, Treasury may need to modestly increase auction sizes
later this year, potentially as soon as the August 2023 refunding announcement.
The table below presents the anticipated auction sizes in billions of dollars for the May 2023 – July
2023 quarter:
2-Year
Feb-23

42

3-Year
40

5-Year
43

7-Year
35

10-Year
35

20-Year
15

30-Year
21

FRN
22

Mar-23

42

40

43

35

32

12

18

22

Apr-23

42

40

43

35

32

12

18

24

May-23

42

40

43

35

35

15

21

22

Jun-23

42

40

43

35

32

12

18

22

Jul-23

42

40

43

35

32

12

18

24

Treasury plans to address any seasonal or unexpected variations in borrowing needs over the next
quarter through changes in regular bill auction sizes and/or CMBs.

TIPS FINANCING
Over the May 2023 – July 2023 quarter, Treasury intends to maintain the May 10-year TIPS
reopening auction size at $15 billion, maintain the June 5-year TIPS reopening auction size at $19
billion, and maintain the July 10-year TIPS new issue auction size at $17 billion. Treasury will
continue to monitor TIPS market conditions and consider whether modest increases would be
appropriate in future quarters.

DEBT LIMIT
Since January 19, 2023, Treasury has been using extraordinary measures to finance the government
on a temporary basis.[1] As Secretary Yellen outlined in her recent letter to Congress, our best
estimate is that we will be unable to continue to satisfy all of the government’s obligations by early
June, and potentially as early as June 1, if Congress does not raise or suspend the debt limit before
that time. This estimate is based on currently available data, as federal receipts and outlays are
inherently variable, and the actual date that Treasury exhausts extraordinary measures could be a
number of weeks later than these estimates. It is impossible to predict with certainty the exact date
when Treasury will be unable to pay the government’s bills, and Treasury will continue to update
Congress in the coming weeks as more information becomes available. Given the current
projections, it is imperative that Congress act as soon as possible to increase or suspend the debt
limit in a way that provides longer-term certainty that the government will continue to make its
payments.
Until the debt limit is suspended or increased, debt limit-related constraints will lead to greaterthan-normal variability in benchmark bill issuance and significant usage of CMBs.

BUYBACKS

Based on feedback from a broad variety of market participants, including the Treasury Borrowing
Advisory Committee and primary dealers, Treasury believes it would be beneficial to conduct
regular buyback operations for cash management and liquidity support purposes. Treasury
anticipates designing a buyback program that will be conducted in a regular and predictable
manner, initially sized conservatively, and not intended to meaningfully change the overall maturity
profile of marketable debt outstanding.
Given various operational and design considerations, Treasury expects to begin a regular buyback
program in calendar year 2024. Treasury will continue to engage with market participants as it
designs the specific buyback program details and will provide further updates to the public on its
implementation plans in future quarterly refunding announcements.

LARGE POSITION REPORT (LPR) CALL
Sometime over the next three months, Treasury intends to issue an LPR call.[2] Treasury last
conducted an LPR call on July 12, 2022.
Additionally, Treasury is offering a free virtual workshop on June 9, 2023, regarding Treasury’s LPR
rules, which apply to all U.S. and foreign entities that may control a large position in a specified
Treasury security. More information about the workshop is available via the following link.
Please send comments or suggestions on these subjects or other subjects related to debt
management to debt.management@treasury.gov.
The next quarterly refunding announcement will take place on Wednesday, August 2, 2023.

###

[1] For more information about the debt limit, see https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-markets-financial-institutionsand-fiscal-service/debt-limit
[2] Further information regarding LPR calls, Treasury’s rules, and supplementary formula guidance can be found at
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/laws-and-regulations/gsa/lpr-reports/.