The Treasury Department is reviving the seven-year note and doubling the number of its 30-year bond auctions as it works to address a soaring budget deficit expected to surpass $1 trillion this year. The department said Wednesday it will start auctioning seven-year notes once a month beginning later this month, and it will auction 30-year bonds eight times annually, up from the current four per year. The last time the government needed to auction seven-year notes was in 1993. The Treasury also said it will auction $67 billion next week in three-year, 10-year, and 30-year notes, a record amount. On Monday, the department said it will need to borrow $493 billion during the current January-March quarter, a record amount for the first quarter. The borrowing estimate follows actual borrowing of $569 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, a record high. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects the deficit for the current budget year will reach a record $1.19 trillion. The estimate does not include the cost of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan, which is now above $900 billion in the version being considered in the Senate. The deficit is growing sharply because of the increased government spending to address the worst financial crisis to hit the country since the 1930s and a recession that already is the longest in a quarter-century.
