Treasury Bill Surge Stirs Speculation US Will Cut Coupon Sales

The US Treasury’s surprising increases in its offering of short-dated debt could indicate the government is preparing to cut the sizes on some of its longer-term coupon offerings when it announces its refinancing plans in November.

Treasury on Tuesday said it will sell a record amount of four-, eight- and 17-week bills in coming days, the second straight week of increases. It is also expected to boost the sizes of its 13-, 26- and 6-week offerings when those are announced on Thursday.

While the department said in its last quarterly refunding announcement it anticipated additional increases in the tenors this ...