Budget 2019: What are Treasury Bills?

Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s first full-time female Finance Minister, will present the first budget of Narendra Modi-led government's second term on July 5.

Taking up the crucial Finance Ministry portfolio, Sitharaman has a big task at hand. In her new role, the former defence minister needs to address issues such as economic slowdown, unemployment rate which is at a 45-year high, severe agrarian crisis, NPAs marring the banking sector.

While all eyes will be on Budget 2019, it is imperative for people to know the key terms associated with the annual exercise.

Here’s a lowdown on some of the important terms to help understand the Budget.

Treasury bills:

Money market instruments issued by RBI to finance the short term requirements of the government of India. These are discounted securities and are thus issued at a discount to face value. The return to the investor is the difference between maturity value and issue price.

There are four types of money bills:

1. 14 days money bill: The maturity period of these money bills are 14 days and are auctioned every Friday.
2. 91 days money bill: The maturity period of these money bills are 91 days and are auctioned every Friday.
3. 182 days money bill: The maturity period of these money bills are 182 days and are auctioned on every alternate Wednesday.
4. 362 days money bill: The maturity period of these money bills are 362 days and are auctioned on every alternate Wednesday. Notified amount of these auctions is Rs 500 Crores.

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