Treasury Plans to Sell New 4-Week Security

The Treasury Department said this week that it plans to sell a new security that matures in just four weeks. The shortest Treasury maturity now available to investors is a three-month bill.

Treasury wants to introduce the four-week bill before Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year, and sell them on a weekly basis. Many details are uncertain, including when the first auction will take place and the size of minimum bids.

Three-month and six-month Treasury bills, for instance, are auctioned in increments of $1,000, making them attractive for individual investors.

The new four-week bill “will provide the Treasury with greater flexibility in managing our cash needs, reduce our dependence on cash management bills and improve the cost efficiency of our short-term financing,” said Michael Paulus, the department’s deputy assistant secretary for federal finance.