Treasury's Cash Pile Shrinks Further as Debt-Ceiling Talks Stall

Yields on US Treasury bills that mature in early June have resumed climbing as the federal government’s coffers dwindle to the lowest level in almost a year-and-a-half, increasing pressure on lawmakers to strike a deal to raise the debt limit as negotiations show signs of faltering on Capitol Hill.

The government’s cash balance fell to $57.3 billion on Thursday from about $68.3 billion the day before. That underscores how quickly the window for resolving the standoff is narrowing, with the Treasury saying on Friday that it had run through all but about $92 billion of its authorized extraordinary measures as of May 17. At the end of last week, the department had about $140 billion in its coffers and around $88 billion of additional room freed up under the $31.4 trillion debt cap.