Where did the Treasury get the massive amounts of cash needed to pay off the massive number of Treasury bills and notes and other government securities that have matured so far this year? It simply turned around and borrowed more money.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
Although the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal government will spend $3.563 trillion in fiscal year 2012 and the White House Office of Management estimates it will be $3.795 trillion, actual withdrawals from the U.S. Treasury have already exceeded $10 trillion.
In fact, as of the close of business Wednesday, withdrawals from the Treasury equaled $10,201,615,000,000 for fiscal 2012, which began on Oct. 1, 2011 and will end on Sept. 30.
According to the Daily Treasury Statement–the official daily accounting sheet for the federal government—withdrawals from the Treasury exceeded $10 trillion this year on Aug. 30, when they rose from $9.903 trillion to $10.035 trillion.
How can this be?
The answer: The federal government needs to churn through trillions of dollars each year above the level of current annual federal spending in order to maintain its $16 trillion debt—much of which is held in Treasury notes that mature in anywhere from 2 to 10 years and Treasury bills that mature in anywhere from a few days to less than a year.
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