ABSTRACT
Governments borrow money for various reasons, including the need to maintain liquidity, to obtain interim financing, and to support the construction of major capital projects. The selection of a particular type of municipal security needs to match the needs of the issuer at a particular moment in time, but each type of security possesses certain attributes that make it more or less attractive to governments and investors. These attributes, and the mechanics of the bond issues themselves, combine to present governments with a series of trade-offs when selecting a financing mechanism.
