[1]The U.S. Department of Treasury [2]'s borrowing estimate for the first quarter of 2015 is about 25 percent lower than its original prediction issued two months ago, according to an announcement [3] from Treasury released Monday.
Assuming a balance of $100 billion at the end of March, Treasury said it expects to issue $155 billion in net marketable debt for the period starting January 1, 2015, and ending March 31, 2015. That figure is $54 billion lower than the original estimate of $209 billion (assuming the same end-of-March cash balance of $100 billion) which Treasury released in November.
Treasury attributes the lower borrowing to changes in cash balance assumptions and lower outlays, according to the announcement.
For the second quarter of 2015, Treasury said assuming a cash balance of $150 billion at the end of June, it expects to pay down $7 billion in net marketable debt.
At the end of the fourth quarter of 2014, Treasury had a cash balance of $223 billion, after issuing $227 billion in net marketable debt during the quarter. Treasury had about $232 billion in net marketable debt at the end of November 2014, at which time it assumed a cash balance of $200 billion by the end of December.
Treasury said a lower financing need and more cash from other sources, partially offset by a higher ending cash balance for the quarter, were responsible for the decrease in borrowing for Q4 2014.