Log In | Register
WASHINGTON — Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction for a second straight week after hitting record lows.
The Treasury Department auctioned $29 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.015 percent, up from 0.010 percent last week. Another $27 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.050 percent, up from 0.040 percent last week.
Even with two weeks of gains, the rates still remain very close to the record lows set three weeks ago when the three-month bill averaged 0.005 percent and the six-month 0.035 percent.
This week, the three-month rate was the highest since it stood at 0.020 percent on Oct. 24. The six-month rate was the highest since these bills averaged 0.055 percent on Oct. 31.
The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,999.63 while a six-month bill sold for $9,997.49. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.015 percent for the three-month bills and 0.051 percent for the six-month bills.
Separately, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, edged up to 0.11 percent last week from 0.10 percent the previous week.
