U.S. Treasury holds debt auctions steady, plans cyber test

[February 01, 2017]   WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday it will hold the size of coupon auctions steady in the upcoming quarter when it conducts a small "contingency auction" that an official said would test its ability to borrow following a cyber attack.

The department plans to offer $62 billion in Treasury securities next week, raising approximately $17 billion in new cash, the Treasury's acting assistant secretary for financial markets, Monique Rollins, said in a statement.

Rollins said the contingency test was part of regular auction infrastructure testing. A Treasury official told reporters separately that the test would gauge the government's ability to borrow money if a cyber attack disrupted normal auctions.

On future coupon sizes, Rollins said the department "will continue to monitor projected financing needs and make appropriate adjustments as necessary."

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Paul Simao)

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