T-Bill Auction May Be Delayed

The scheduled auction of $14.25 billion in 52-week Treasury bills on April 1 may be postponed unless Congress acts promptly to raise the national debt limit, the Treasury Department said.

A Clinton Administration request to raise the limit from $4.145 trillion now to $4.37 trillion is pending before the House and Senate.

Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen last week said the current ceiling will be reached by April 7. He asked for enactment of the new ceiling by April 2 to “avoid unnecessary uncertainty in financial markets and dislocations in the Treasury’s usual pattern of auction announcements.”