Treasury's Current Quarter Debt is Less Than Prior Forecast, Though Will be Second-Highest on Record

The U.S. Treasury Department will issue the second-largest quantity of debt ever for the fourth quarter of this calendar year. However, the quality is less than previously forecast because of a higher-than-expected government cash balance as of Sept. 30.

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The Treasury Department said Monday that it will issue $362 billion in debt -- less than the $379 billion it forecast in August. The government had a $310 billion cash balance on Sept. 30, up from the $270 billion balance it estimated in August.

The federal government has amassed near-record levels of debt as it seeks to pump life into the U.S. economy, which, by some economists' measures, exited its most recent recession in June 2009. The $362 billion in new debt trails only the $569 billion taken out during the fourth quarter of 2008, when the government was in the process of funding the $700 billion financial bailout, according to the Associated Press.

For the quarter ending March 31, the federal government expects to issue $431 billion of debt, the Treasury Department said Monday.