The U.S. Treasury said on Monday it plans to borrow $274 billion in the first quarter, significantly lower than the November estimate of $1.127 trillion, with the decline due to the department's higher cash balance at the beginning of January. “Since April 2020, Treasury has substantially increased issuance sizes for nominal coupon and (floating rate note) securities and begun a gradual increase in (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities) issuance. A $900 billion stimulus bill was not signed into law until Dec. 27, however, leaving the Treasury with a larger than anticipated cash balance of $1.729 trillion at the end of 2020.