Treasury to Suspend Sales of State and Local Government Series Securities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 15, 2006

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service announced today the suspension of sales of State and Local Government Series (SLGS) nonmarketable Treasury securities, effective 12:00 noon Eastern Time (ET), February 16, 2006, until further notice. This suspension is necessary due to the statutory debt ceiling and will assist Treasury’s management of the debt subject to limit.

The suspension applies to demand deposit and time deposit securities. Subscriptions for SLGS received by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service prior to 12:00 noon, on February 16, 2006, will be issued on the date requested. New subscriptions for SLGS will not be accepted during the suspension.

The TreasuryDirect.gov website has more information about the effect of the debt ceiling on SLGS, including how it impacts holders of outstanding demand deposit securities, available at http://www.treasurydirect.gov/help-center/faqs/slgs-faqs/.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides guidance for affected government entities in Revenue Procedure 95-47, 1995-47 I.R.B. 12, available at http://www.irs.gov/Tax-Exempt-Bonds/Revenue-Procedures.

The SLGS program began in 1972 to assist state and local government entities in complying with IRS arbitrage regulations. The securities are not available to the general public.