On Monday, September 14, the ECB announced its weekly Main Refinancing Operation (MRO). This auction, which was conducted on Tuesday, attracted bids for €87.80 billion from euro area eligible counterparties, which amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing main refinancing rate of one per cent in accordance with the current ECB policy.

On Monday, September 14, the Eurosystem and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) conducted a EUR/CHF foreign exchange swap, with a seven-day maturity, to provide Swiss franc liquidity against the euro. This operation attracted bids for €7.85 billion, with all bids being allotted in full at a fixed price of -0.81 swap points.

On Wednesday, September 16, the ECB, in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve, conducted a seven-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending. This attracted bids for $41.33 billion, which amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.17 per cent.

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 181-day bills maturing on March 18, 2010. Bids for €36.98 million were submitted, with the Treasury allotting €36.35 million. Since €39.43 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €3.08 million to €557.08 million.

The yield resulting from the auction was 1.567 per cent, i.e. 2.3 basis points lower than that on bills with a similar tenor issued on September 4, 2009. The latest yield represented a bid price of 99.2183 per 100 nominal. Today the Treasury will invite tenders for 273-day bills maturing on June 25, 2010.

Treasury bill trading on the Malta Stock Exchange amounted to €6.50 million during the week, with €6.25 million trades being conducted by the Central Bank of Malta in its role as market maker. Off-exchange transactions amounted to €0.25 million.

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