A short-dated security, maturing in under a year. Treasury bills are issued by the UK government; trade bills are issued by firms to obtain short-term finance more cheaply than borrowing from the banks; bills of exchange are issued by private firms to finance foreign trade. A bill specifies its maturity, for example 91 days from the date of issue, and the currency in which it is to be repaid. Bills carry no explicit interest; the interest on bills is provided by issuing them at a discount to their redemption value. Bills can be traded before maturity; while their market price is subject to change with changes in the rate of interest, because of their early maturity dates large interest changes are needed to move bill prices very far. For example, a bill maturing in 6 weeks will be reduced in price by only 0.58 per cent by a rise in short-term interest rates from 5 to 10 per cent a year. Bills are thus regarded as liquid assets.