§ Sir W. Smithersasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will state for tender and tap Treasury bills, separately, on the last day of each quarter since the beginning of 1939 the amount outstanding; the then current rate or rates of discount; the periods of currency; the amount of tap bills outstanding at each of the varying rates in the event of absence uniformity in the rates of discount and in the periods of currency; and the amount of interest-free tap bills?
§ Sir K. WoodThe total amount of Treasury Bills outstanding at the end of each quarter up to June, 1940, will be found in the weekly Exchequer Return and thereafter in the statement of the debt transactions published as a supplementary note to the Exchequer Receipts and Issues at the end of each month. Approximate totals of the amounts of tender bills outstanding at any time can be calculated from the published results of the weekly tenders, but to give an exact figure would require an unduly laborious examination of the dates of710W issue and maturity of all bills at the beginning and end of each quarter. The average rates of discount on tender bills during the weeks in which the last day of each quarter fell are shown in the table below. The normal tap bill rate is the one-sixteenth next below the average weekly tender rate. There are no interest-free tap bills, but in special cases (of which, on grounds of public interest, details cannot be published) the rate is nominal. Tender bills are all issued for a period of three months: tap bills are issued for three months or shorter periods as may be convenient.
Following is the table referred to
TREASURY BILLS BY TENDER. Last day of Quarter. Average Rate of discount during week in which last day of quarter fell. £ s. d. 1939 March … … 14 7 June … … 14 7 September … … 3 6 1 December … … 1 4 8 1940 March … … 1 0 5 June … … 1 0 5 September … … 1 0 6 December … … 1 0 2 1941 March … … 1 0 2 June … … 1 0 0 September … … 19 11 December … … 1 0 2 1942 March … … 1 0 0 June … … 1 0 1 September … … 1 0 0 December … … 1 0 1 1943 March … … 1 0 2 June … … 1 0 0