Trade Forex - Forex Market

Treasury bills were first authorized by Congress in 1929. After experimenting with a number of bill maturities, the Treasury in 1937 settled on the exclusive issue of three-month bills. In December 1958 these were supplemented with six-month bills in the regular weekly auctions. In 1959 the Treasury began to auction one-year bills on a quarterly basis. The quarterly auction of one-year bills was replaced in August 1963 by an auction occurring every four weeks. The Treasury in September 1966 added a nine-month maturity to the auction occurring every four weeks but the sale of this maturity was discontinued in late 1972. Since then, the only regular bill offerings have been the offerings of three- and six-month bills every week and the offerings of one-year bills every four weeks. The Treasury has increased the size of its auctions as new money has been needed to meet enlarged federal borrowing requirements. In 1992 the weekly auctions of three- and six-month bills both ranged from $10.2 billion to $12.5 billion, and the four-week auctions of one-year bills ranged from $12.8 billion to $15.0 billion.

In addition to its regularly scheduled sales, the Treasury raises money on an irregular basis through the sale of cash management bills, which are usually "reopenings" or sales of bills that mature on the same date as an outstanding issue of bills. Cash management bills are designed to bridge low points in the

Prior to 1975, the Treasury raised funds on an irregular basis through the sale of tax anticipation bills. Nelson (1977) provides a description of these bills.
Treasury's cash balances. Many cash management bills help finance the Treasury's requirements until tax payments are received. For this reason they frequently have maturities that fall after one of the five major federal tax dates. Sixty issues of cash management bills were sold in the decade from 1983 through 1992. Of these, 29 had maturities of less than one month, 21 had maturities between one month and three months, and 10 had maturities between three months and one year.