WASHINGTON - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose slightly in yesterday’s auction with rates on three-month bills climbing to the highest level since mid-August.
The Treasury Department auctioned $29 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.030 percent, up from 0.015 percent last week.
Another $27 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.065 percent, up from 0.045 percent last week.
The three-month rate was the highest since three-month bills averaged 0.035 percent on Aug. 15. The six-month rate was the highest since these bills averaged 0.070 percent on Sept. 6.
The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,999.24 while a six-month bill sold for $9,996.71.
That would equal an annualized rate of 0.031 percent for the three-month bills and 0.066 percent for the six-month bills.
Separately, the Federal Reserve said yesterday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, was unchanged at 0.11 percent last week, the same as the previous week.
