WASHINGTON (AP) ? Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities rose in Monday’s auction with rates on three-month bills climbing to the highest level since late April.
The Treasury Department auctioned $27 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.060 percent, up from 0.020 percent last week. Another $24 billion was auctioned in six-month bills at a discount rate of 0.100 percent, up from 0.060 percent last week.
The three-month rate was the highest since these bills averaged 0.065 percent on April 25. The six-month rate was the highest since these bills averaged 0.105 percent on June 13.
Rates on short-term Treasury debt remain near historic lows even as the White House and Congress are locked in negotiations over raising the borrowing limit. If the talks fail and the $14.3 trillion debt limit is not raised, Treasury has said the government is at risk of an unprecedented default on the debt after Aug. 2.
The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,998.48, while the six-month bill sold for $9,994.94. That would equal an annualized 0.061 percent for the three-month bills and 0.102 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, was 0.18 percent last week, up from 0.16 percent the previous week.
