Debt Management: Treasury Inflation Protected Securities Should Play a Heightened Role in Addressing Debt Management Challenges

Our September 2009 report on Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) found that TIPS should play a heightened role in addressing debt management challenges. On July 1, 2009 we briefed officials and staff from Treasury's Office of Debt Management on our findings, including that Treasury's TIPS program has had varying degrees of liquidity (the ease with which investors can trade the security) since its inception and that Treasury actions impact TIPS liquidity. We reported that the major institutional investors that we interviewed perceived Treasury's commitment to the TIPS program as having wavered in recent years, decreasing liquidity of TIPS in the market. Following our briefing, Treasury posed questions about ways to improve the TIPS program to the Primary Dealers and the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee (TBAC). At the August 2009 TBAC meeting, members discussed TIPS. In part, based on the presentations at the August 2009 TBAC meeting on TIPS, Treasury's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Federal Finance publicly reaffirmed Treasury's commitment to TIPS and announced plans to gradually increase issuance of TIPS. Increasing TIPS issuance could contribute to Treasury's goal of the lowest cost of borrowing over time. Treasury's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Federal Finance confirmed that the questions posed at the August 2009 TBAC meeting had been influenced by our statements at the July 1, 2009, briefing.

At Treasury's August 2009 refunding, Treasury announced that with the goal of potentially improving liquidity in the TIPS program and to better capture the premium associated with inflation protection, Treasury would consider replacing the 20-year TIPS with a 30-year TIPS. The first 30-year TIPS auction was held in February 2010.

At both of the two second quarterly refunding meetings, Treasury reaffirmed its commitment to the TIPS program and stated that they are committed to issuing TIPS in a regular and predictable manner across the yield curve. They identified TIPS as an important part of their overall debt management strategy and stated that market participants could expect to see issuance gradually increase in FY2010. Additionally, Treasury replaced the 20-year TIPS with a 30-year TIPS to potentially improve liquidity. In November 2009, Treasury announced that they are considering making further changes to the TIPS calendar to provide more frequent TIPS auctions.

At both of the two second quarterly refunding meetings, Treasury reaffirmed its commitment to the TIPS program and stated that they are committed to issuing TIPS in a regular and predictable manner across the yield curve. They identified TIPS as an important part of their overall debt management strategy and stated that market participants could expect to see issuance gradually increase in FY2010. Additionally, Treasury replaced the 20-year TIPS with a 30-year TIPS to potentially improve liquidity. In November 2009, Treasury announced that they are considering making further changes to the TIPS calendar to provide more frequent TIPS auctions. In a letter to GAO, Treasury stated that they continuously review the appropriate issuance amounts and composition of its entire portfolio, including TIPS. Since August 2009, Treasury has been consistent in public statements concerning the TIPS program. Treasury's strong commitment to the TIPS program was made clear by maintaining issuance sizes during the recent global financial crisis, when dislocations in the fixed income markets caused other sovereign issuers to pull back from inflation-linked debt issuance. Since August 2009, Treasury has also made a commitment to the market to expand the TIPS program.

In a letter to GAO, Treasury stated that Treasury will continue to evaluate the cost and composition of the TIPS portfolio based on a variety of analyses and techniques including both ex-ante and ex-post methods.

In a letter to GAO, Treasury stated that they will continue to evaluate the cost and composition of the TIPS portfolio based on a variety of analyses and techniques and that Treasury continues to study other potential benefits of TIPS including their ability to diversify its investor base and the impact of TIPS issuance on nominal security costs.

In a letter to GAO, Treasury stated that they will continue to evaluate the cost and composition of the TIPS portfolio based on a variety of analyses and techniques and consider the impact of TIPS issuance on nominal security costs.