GAO
United States Government Accountability Office
Report to the Secretary of the Treasury
November 2008
FINANCIAL AUDIT
Bureau of the Public
Debt’s Fiscal Years
2008 and 2007
Schedules of Federal
Debt
a
GAO-09-44
What GAO Found
Why GAO Did This Study
Highlights
Accountability Integrity Reliability
November 2008
FINANCIAL AUDIT
Bureau of the Public Debt's Fiscal Years 2008 and
2007 Schedules of Federal Debt
Highlights of GAO-09-44, a report to the
Secretary of the Treasury
GAO is required to audit the
consolidated financial statements
of the U.S. government. Due to the
significance of the federal debt
held by the public to the
governmentwide financial
statements, GAO audits the Bureau
of the Public Debt’s (BPD)
Schedules of Federal Debt
annually. The audit of these
schedules is done to determine
whether, in all material respects,
(1) the schedules are reliable and
(2) BPD management maintained
effective internal control relevant
to the Schedule of Federal Debt.
Further, GAO tests compliance
with a significant provision of law
related to the Schedule of Federal
Debt (statutory debt limit).
Federal debt managed by BPD
consists of Treasury securities held
by the public and by certain federal
government accounts, referred to
as intragovernmental debt
holdings. The level of debt held by
the public primarily reflects how
much of the nation’s wealth has
been absorbed by the federal
government to finance prior federal
spending in excess of federal
revenues. Intragovernmental debt
holdings represent balances of
Treasury securities held by federal
government accounts, primarily
federal trust funds such as Social
Security, that typically have an
obligation to invest their excess
annual receipts over disbursements
in federal securities.
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For a fuller understanding of GAO’s opinion
on BPD’s fiscal years 2008 and 2007
Schedules of Federal Debt, readers should
refer to the complete audit report, available by
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