WASHINGTON — Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday's auction with rates on six-month bills unchanged while rates on three-month bills dropped to the lowest point since early 2012.
The Treasury Department auctioned $30 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.035 percent, down from 0.040 percent last week. Another $25 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.070 percent, unchanged from last week.
The three-month rate was the lowest since three-month bills averaged 0.025 percent on Jan. 17, 2012. The 0.070 percent rate for six-month bills this week and last week represented the lowest level since these bills averaged 0.060 percent, also on Jan. 17, 2012.
The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,999.12 while a six-month bill sold for $9,996.46. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.035 percent for the three-month bills and 0.071 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 0.11 percent last week from 0.13 percent the previous week.
