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To: pater tenebrarum who wrote (38925)	2/3/2000 12:16:00 PM
From: Les H	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 99985

U.S. Treasury shrugs off criticism of debt buyback ARLINGTON, Va., Feb 3 (Reuters) - Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart Eizenstat said on Thursday the U.S. government's program of buying back its debt would result in lower interest rates, and shrugged off criticism that the program was mishandled. ``It is a very positive symptom that we're earning a surplus and that we want to buy back debt,' Eizenstat told reporters at an event where he was speaking about legislative initiatives that will affect Indian affairs. ``It means less pressure on interest rates,' he added. Asked if the debt buyback announcement had been mistimed, Eizenstat said: ``It's not really an issue of timing.' He went on to note that quarterly refunding announcements were regularly scheduled events. Some bond market traders have criticized the Treasury for distorting market prices by surprising the market by announcing a larger-than-expected program of debt buybacks earlier this week. The Treasury has said it plans to buy back $30 billion of older, higher-yielding debt this year, with repurchases starting within two months and in initial chunks of around $1.0 billion. The price of the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond soared earlier on Thursday by as much as three points, with traders complaining that the unusually large move was driven by an acute shortage of stock.