Treasury Bills and Central Bank Bills for Monetary Policy

Abstract

This study investigates the extent of use of treasury bills and central bank bills as monetary policy instrument by level of development of countries, and problems caused from using two securities simultaneously. Very interestingly, it is observed that advanced countries tend to have either treasury bills or central bank bills while less advanced countries use both bills. Also the advanced countries are discovered to use more treasury bills than central bank bills. It is also found that employment of two securities leads to bond market segmentation, profit deterioration of central bank, and increase of government debt. Based on these problems caused by using two bills simultaneously, I suggest that central bank bills should be integrated into treasury bills in those countries in which two bills are used at the same time. As for the integration, I recommend that maturity of two bills need to be adjusted before long, resulting in short- and long-term for treasury securities and mid-term for central bank bills. (C) The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.