Treasury to pay down debt for first time since Obama took office

Treasury to pay down debt for first time since Obama took office
By Peter Schroeder - 04/29/13 03:20 PM ET

The Treasury Department announced Monday that it would reduce its level of debt in financial markets for the first time since President Obama took office.
The department said it expects to pay down a net of $35 billion in its marketable debt for the second quarter of 2013, the first time it has done so since 2007.
In February, Treasury had estimated the government would have to borrow $103 billion during the second quarter, and would end up with a cash balance of only $30 billion.

But thanks to unexpectedly higher receipts of government revenue and lower outlays in spending, the Treasury is experiencing a swing in fortune that allows officials to actually pay down some of its outstanding debt.
Treasury now expects to have a cash balance of $75 billion in June after paying down the $35 billion in debt.
Treasury also updated its borrowing projections for the third quarter of the year. The Treasury now anticipates it will borrow $223 billion from July to September, and will end that quarter with a cash balance of $80 billion.
The rosier projections come as experts are also projecting that Washington may have more time to haggle over fiscal policy before the government reaches its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit.
The Bipartisan Policy Center announced Friday that its latest projections show the government might not need to raise the debt limit until mid-October.
In January, experts with the group estimated the borrowing limit would need to be raised sometime in August, but updated information about the nation's finances has pushed that window back, the group said.
— This story was updated at 4:26 p.m.


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U.S. government may not hit debt limit until October





By Rachelle Younglai
WASHINGTON, April 26 | Fri Apr 26, 2013 5:45pm EDT
(Reuters) - The United States might not hit the statutory limit on its debt until October, a policy research group said on Friday, giving Republican lawmakers more time to extract spending cuts from the Obama administration in return for extending the borrowing cap.

After giving into Democratic demands in December to raise taxes and later working with them to avoid a government shutdown, Republicans have been gearing up to use the debt limit as leverage to seek fresh budget cuts and changes to the tax code.

The Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank that analyzes the U.S. Treasury's daily and monthly cash flows, had expected the federal government to hit the congressionally-set limit on its debt sometime between early-August and mid-September.

But stronger-than-expected revenues and deeper-than-anticipated budget cuts mean the ceiling on borrowing probably will not be reach until sometime between mid-August and mid-October, the group said on its website on Friday.

"October is a nasty month," BPC economic policy director Steve Bell said in an interview, noting that major government payments are due in October.

If Congress does not raise the borrowing cap before the Treasury hits the limit, the government will no longer be able to borrow money to pay its bills, including interest on its bonds, raising the risk of a damaging debt default.

In an attempt to avoid being blamed for a default, Republicans in the House of Representatives are pushing legislation to require the Treasury to pay bondholders and Social Security retirement benefits before other bills if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling on time.

The BPC said its forecast could change depending on economic conditions and when updated financial information became available.

Nearly $90 billion may soon be pumped into government coffers by the now-profitable government-controlled housing finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to account for deferred tax assets that were written down.

The think tank, however, does not think the disbursement to the Treasury will be that high. "We do expect that there will be a payment of some size in June but it is our opinion that the number is more likely to be in the $20 billion range and not in the rumored $100 billion range," Bell said.

The Treasury has said it could not forecast an exact date for when Congress must raise the debt ceiling due to delayed tax filings and uncertainty about the effect of the government budget cuts.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/26/usa-fiscal-debt-idUSL2N0DD2QZ20130426