The federal government issues many types of debt. When analyzing the debt, the first consideration is if the debt is held by the public or intragovernmental. Debt held by the public represents those funds that the federal government owes to any entity that is not itself. Those entities could be states, funds reserved to secure payments that are not within the federal budget, foreign countries, individuals, or any number of other holders.
The majority of the public debt is held in the form of marketable securities. These include treasury bills which have no coupon but instead are issued at a discount to par, floating rate notes (FRNs) which have a coupon rate which is tied to a changing (floating) rate, Inflation Linked Bonds (ILBs) which may pay a coupon based on a face amount which is adjusted for inflation, bonds and notes which are traditional coupon securities.
The current breakdown (as of 1-Oct 2025) of the marketable debt is:
| Type | Issued | Redeemed (buy-back) | Adjustment | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bills | ||||
| Notes | ||||
| Bonds | ||||
| ILB | ||||
| FRNs | ||||