The U.S. Treasury will sell $316 billion of short-term bills on Monday and Tuesday after raising the auction size on four separate maturities in offering announcements published Thursday, September 24. The 13-week bill goes to $95 billion from $92 billion and the 26-week bill to $82 billion from $79 billion, the first increase in either tenor since June 29. The 52-week bill rises to $54 billion from $52 billion and the 6-week bill to $85 billion from $75 billion. Together the four raise $18 billion more than the same four raised at their most recent sales, a 6.0% step up landing in the final week of fiscal 2026, which closes Wednesday.
Treasury is lifting supply into a front end that is already paying more. The 3-month bill yielded 4.24% on Friday and the 6-month 4.33%, up 10 and 9 basis points on the week, according to Treasury’s daily par yield curve. Total public debt outstanding stood at $40.07 trillion on September 24, and the average rate Treasury pays on its interest-bearing debt reached 3.490% in August, the highest monthly reading since May 2009. Bid-to-cover ratios at last week’s 4-week and 8-week sales both fell, and primary dealers absorbed nearly twice as much paper as the week before. More supply meeting thinner demand is what the market tests on Monday morning. The Treasury yield curve and the national debt total update daily.
- Treasury raised four bill auction sizes on Thursday and will sell $316 billion Monday and Tuesday.
- The 13-week and 26-week bills rose for the first time since June 29.
- The four tenors raise $18 billion more than at their last sales, a 6.0% increase.
- Bid-to-cover on the 4-week bill fell to 2.61 from 3.02 a week earlier.
- Fiscal 2026 closes Wednesday with total public debt at $40.07 trillion.
What Treasury Announced on Thursday
Treasury published the offering announcements for the week’s first two auction days on Thursday, September 24. The 13-week bill scheduled for Monday, September 28 is set at $95 billion, up $3 billion. The 26-week bill on the same day is set at $82 billion, also up $3 billion. Both had been frozen at $92 billion and $79 billion across thirteen consecutive weekly sales stretching back to June 29, the last time Treasury moved either one. On Tuesday, September 29 the 52-week bill is set at $54 billion, up $2 billion from its September 1 sale, and the 6-week bill at $85 billion, a $10 billion rebound from the $75 billion Treasury had run for three straight weeks.
The arithmetic is simple. The four tenors together come to $316 billion. The same four, at their most recent auctions, came to $298 billion. The difference is $18 billion, or 6.0%. Treasury has not yet published sizes for the 17-week bill on Wednesday, September 30 or for the 4-week and 8-week bills on Thursday, October 1. Those announcements are scheduled for Tuesday, September 29, and they will show whether the increase is confined to the longer bill tenors or extends across the whole complex. The 4-week and 8-week bills have held at $90 billion and $85 billion since early September.
The Week Ahead: Four Auctions in Two Days
Monday’s two sales settle Thursday, October 1, the first day of fiscal 2027. Treasury’s announcement for the September 21 13-week auction estimated $260.06 billion of publicly held securities maturing that week, the rollover wall bill supply has to clear before it raises a dollar of new cash. Wednesday is both the end of the federal fiscal year and the end of the third calendar quarter, two dates that reliably pull cash into the Treasury General Account and out of bank reserves. That account held $977.08 billion at the Fed on September 23, up $100.06 billion in a single week, while reserve balances fell $83.60 billion to $2.930 trillion, according to the Fed’s H.4.1 release.
The effective federal funds rate printed 3.88% on September 24 and the Secured Overnight Financing Rate matched it, both two basis points below the 3.90% the Fed pays on reserve balances. A widening of that gap during settlement week is the standard early signal that cash is getting scarce. The Federal Open Market Committee raised its target range at the September 15 and 16 meeting, lifting the prime rate to 7.00%, and next meets October 27 and 28. The full Fed meeting schedule runs through December 8 and 9.
Demand at the Front End Is Thinning
The demand picture deteriorated in the week before Treasury raised sizes. The 4-week bill sold on September 24 drew a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.61, down from 3.02 at the September 17 sale of identical size. Indirect bidders, the category that captures foreign central banks and other non-dealer institutional buyers, took $38.06 billion of that auction against $57.59 billion a week earlier. Primary dealers, the firms obligated to bid in every auction, were left holding $41.50 billion against $22.26 billion. The 8-week bill told a milder version of the same story, with cover slipping to 2.76 from 2.94.
The longer bills held up better. The 13-week sale on September 21 stopped at a 4.015% discount rate, a 4.113% investment rate, on 2.77 cover, with $260.78 billion tendered against $98.21 billion accepted. The 26-week stopped at 4.155%, a 4.303% investment rate, on a thinner 2.62 cover. The 6-week bill on September 22 stopped at 3.870% with 3.03 cover, and the 17-week on September 23 at 4.135% with 2.81 cover. Every one of those stop-out rates came in above the equivalent sale a week earlier, which is the plainest available measure of what the extra supply is costing.
What Changes for Your Money
Bills are the reference asset for the cash end of a household balance sheet, so a few basis points at auction do reach consumer products. A 6-month bill stopping at a 4.303% investment rate sets a floor that brokered certificates of deposit and the better money market funds have to clear to stay competitive. The best CD rates and high-yield savings accounts track that floor, though deposit rates lag auction rates by weeks rather than days. Bill income is also exempt from state and local income tax, which widens the effective gap in high-tax states.
On the borrowing side the transmission runs the other way. The prime rate sits at 7.00% after the September increase, and variable credit card APRs and home equity lines are indexed to it, usually resetting within one or two statement cycles. Bills do not set prime. The Fed does. But bill yields are the cleanest running read on what the market expects the Fed to do next, which is why the October meeting is already visible in Friday’s 4.50% one-year bill. On a $10,000 balance, each quarter point of prime is roughly $25 a year in added interest. On $10,000 of 6-month bills, the same quarter point is about $25 in added income.
Bill auction results post to treasurydirect.gov within minutes of the 11:30 a.m. Eastern competitive close, and two numbers carry most of the signal. The high investment rate is the yield you would actually have earned. The bid-to-cover ratio is the demand read: above 3.0 points to genuine excess demand, while anything under 2.5 on a bill means dealers are absorbing paper the market did not want, which tends to show up as a higher yield at the next sale.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is Treasury selling in bills this week?
Treasury will sell $316 billion of bills on Monday, September 28 and Tuesday, September 29: $95 billion of 13-week, $82 billion of 26-week, $54 billion of 52-week and $85 billion of 6-week paper. Sizes for Wednesday and Thursday are announced Tuesday.
What are Treasury bill rates doing today?
Bill yields rose through last week. Treasury’s daily par yield curve put the 1-month bill at 4.04%, the 3-month at 4.24%, the 6-month at 4.33% and the 1-year at 4.50% on Friday, September 25. Each sat above the September 18 readings of 3.97%, 4.14%, 4.24% and 4.44%. Two forces explain the move: the September increase that lifted the effective federal funds rate to 3.88%, and market pricing for a second increase at the October 27 and 28 meeting. Of the four, the 1-year bill carries the most policy expectation.
What were the results of the most recent Treasury bill auctions?
The 13-week bill sold September 21 stopped at a 4.015% discount rate, equivalent to a 4.113% investment rate, on a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.77. The 26-week stopped at 4.155%, a 4.303% investment rate, on 2.62 cover. The 6-week bill on September 22 stopped at 3.870%, the 17-week on September 23 at 4.135%, the 4-week on September 24 at 3.850% and the 8-week the same day at 3.990%. Treasury publishes full results on the afternoon of each sale. Every one of those rates came in above the equivalent sale a week earlier.
What time are Treasury auctions held?
Competitive bidding on Treasury bills closes at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time and non-competitive bidding at 11:00 a.m. Results are normally released within a few minutes of the competitive close. Auctions of notes and bonds close at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. Bills announced on a Thursday are typically auctioned the following Monday or Tuesday and settle that Thursday, which is why this week’s Monday sales settle on October 1, the first day of fiscal 2027. Treasury announces the size of each bill several business days before it sells.
What is driving the U.S. bond market right now?
Supply and policy are pulling in the same direction. Total public debt outstanding reached $40.07 trillion on September 24, and the average interest rate Treasury pays on its interest-bearing debt rose to 3.490% in August, the highest monthly reading since May 2009. Interest expense reached $1.268 trillion over the first eleven months of fiscal 2026, up $139.0 billion from the same point a year earlier. The Fed is raising rates rather than cutting, which reprices the bill stock fastest of all.
Should I buy Treasury bills instead of a CD?
It depends on your tax situation and how long you can lock up the money. A 6-month bill at a 4.303% investment rate pays interest exempt from state and local income tax, so in a state levying 6% it can beat a certificate of deposit quoting a higher headline rate. CDs carry FDIC insurance within the limits and smaller banks often quote above the national average. Bills are backed by the federal government and trade in a deep secondary market if you need the cash early.
Watching the Front End Into October
Two dates decide whether Thursday’s increase is a one-off or the start of a pattern. Tuesday’s announcements for the 17-week, 4-week and 8-week bills will show whether Treasury is lifting the whole complex or only the longer tenors. The October 27 and 28 meeting settles whether bill yields have priced a second increase correctly, a question the 2026 Fed rate forecast tracks week by week. Between the two, the interest bill keeps compounding and the yield curve keeps repricing.
References
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, TreasuryDirect. “Auction Announcements and Results.” Accessed September 27, 2026. treasurydirect.gov
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Fiscal Data. “Treasury Securities Auctions Data.” fiscaldata.treasury.gov
- U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Daily Treasury Par Yield Curve Rates,” September 25, 2026. home.treasury.gov
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Fiscal Data. “Debt to the Penny,” September 24, 2026. fiscaldata.treasury.gov
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Fiscal Data. “Average Interest Rates on U.S. Treasury Securities,” August 31, 2026. fiscaldata.treasury.gov
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Fiscal Data. “Interest Expense on the Public Debt Outstanding.” fiscaldata.treasury.gov
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. “H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances,” week ended September 23, 2026. federalreserve.gov
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. “H.15 Selected Interest Rates.” federalreserve.gov
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. “FOMC Calendars, Statements, and Minutes.” federalreserve.gov
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED. “Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).” fred.stlouisfed.org
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED. “Reserve Balances with Federal Reserve Banks (WRESBAL).” fred.stlouisfed.org
