US Treasury lowers borrowing forecast for Jan-March quarter

WASHINGTON: The US Treasury said on Monday it lowered its borrowing forecast for the current quarter due to a higher-than-expected cash balance early in the year.

The Treasury said it expects to issue $331 billion in net marketable debt for the January-March quarter, a decrease of about $11 billion from previous estimates issued in October 2012.  Treasury said it expected to issue $103 billion in net marketable debt, or debt that can be bought and sold in the secondary market, in the April-June 2013 quarter.

The estimates prepare for the Treasury Department's quarterly refunding announcement on Wednesday.

A Treasury official reaffirmed that the United States could redeploy emergency cash measures after May 19, if necessary, to ensure the government could keep from exceeding its borrowing limit.

A bill allowing the US government to borrow money beyond its record $16.4 trillion debt limit won final congressional approval last week. The bill has yet to be signed by President Barack Obama and would suspend the debt limit until May 19.