Fixed-rate discount Treasury bills (BTFs) are similar to short-term Treasury bonds. They have an initial maturity of less than or equal to one year.
Market Overview
The maturity of BTFs is expressed in weeks. The most frequently issued maturities are 13, 26 and 52 weeks. Bills with maturities of 24 to 28 weeks may be issued as half year bills and bills with maturities of 49 to 52 weeks may be issued as one-year bills.
BTFs have a par value of €1 and are issued every week by auction according to a quarterly schedule published by AFT in advance. This schedule specifies the maturities of the bills that will be auctioned during the quarter. Unscheduled issuance of certain BTFs with shorter than standard maturities may take place to meet the State’s cash requirements. A quarterly BTF, a half-year BTF and a one-year BTF are normally issued each week.
To ensure the fungibility of new and existing issues, the maturities of new bills are aligned on those of previously issued bills. In 2025, the market featured around 26 different BTFs at any time.
Auctions
Every Friday at 11am, AFT announces the BTFs that will be auctioned the following Monday. The announcement includes the amounts to be auctioned with an upper and lower limit for each auctioned BTF to ensure that there is sufficient flexibility to meet demand.
Bids of at least €1 million are expressed as a money-market straight-line yield to three decimal places, with ticks of 0.5 basis points, and as the exact number of days out of 360 (ACT/360). BTFs are discounted Treasury bills. The pro-rated discount is applied to the par value of the bill when the bill is issued. Therefore, no coupon payments are made.
Trading
BTF purchases on the secondary market are governed by the same rules that govern primary market purchases. Trades are based on a money-market straight-line yield to three decimal places, with ticks of 0.5 basis points, and the exact number of days out of 360 (ACT/360). The settlement date for BTFs on the secondary market is T+2 of the trade date.