Rates fall at weekly US Treasury bill auction

[September 17, 2013]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in Monday's auction, with rates on six-month bills dropping to the lowest level on record.

The Treasury Department auctioned $30 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.010 percent, down from 0.020 percent last week. Another $25 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.030 percent, down from 0.035 percent last week.

The three-month rate was the lowest since three-month bills averaged 0.005 percent on Dec. 19, 2011. The six-month rate was the lowest on record.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,999.75, while a six-month bill sold for $9,998.48. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.010 percent for the three-month bills and 0.030 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 down to 0.13 percent last week from 0.15 percent the previous week.

[Associated Press]

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