Decrease in outstanding amount of Treasury bills

On Monday, February 4, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced the weekly Main Refinancing Operation (MRO) through which the Eurosystem injects liquidity with a standard maturity of seven days into the euro area money market.

This operation attracted bids for €223.8 billion from euro area eligible counterparties, with the ECB allotting €161.5 billion, or 72.16 per cent of the total amount bid for. The marginal rate, which is the rate at which the total tender allotment is exhausted, was set by the ECB at 4.17 per cent, that is one basis point lower than the marginal rate of the previous week.

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day bills maturing on May 9. Bids for €15.74 million worth of bills were submitted, and out of these the Treasury accepted bids for €4.86 million. As €8.42 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €3.6 million to €313.2 million.

The latest 91-day yield resulting from the auction was 4.178 per cent, almost unchanged from the 4.187 per cent yield on similar bills issued last January 18. This represented a bid price of 98.9549 per 100 nominal.

The Treasury invited tenders for 91-day bills maturing on May 1.

Treasury bill trading on the Malta Stock Exchange amounted to €0.77 million during the week, with all transactions being conducted by the bank in its role as market maker in the secondary market. No transactions were conducted off-exchange.