The U.S. Treasury will start issuing 20-year debt in the first half of 2020, expanding its roster of securities as the government seeks ways to fund ballooning deficits.
“Treasury believes that there will be strong demand from investors for a 20-year bond, which will increase Treasury’s financing capacity over the long term,” the department said in a statement Thursday evening. The agency made the decision following consultation with market participants, including its primary dealers.
The decision, done in consultation with Treasury dealers, comes after the U.S. reviewed other options, including ultra-long bonds maturing in 50 or 100 years. The current maximum is 30 years. Many on Wall Street lobbied against those longer durations as the government was weighing what to do.