ECB leaves interest rates unchanged - November 10, 2009
On Thursday, November 5, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank decided to keep the interest rate on its main refinancing operations unchanged at one per cent Interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility were...
On Thursday, November 5, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank decided to keep the interest rate on its main refinancing operations unchanged at one per cent Interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility were also left unchanged, at 1.75 per cent and 0.25 per cent, respectively.
On Monday, November 2, the ECB announced its weekly Main Refinancing Operation. This auction, which was conducted on Tuesday, attracted bids for €46.20 billion from euro area eligible counterparties, €2.46 billion less than the amount bid for in the previous week.
The bid amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing main refinancing rate of one per cent in accordance with current ECB policy.
Also on Monday, November 2, 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 euro.
This operation attracted bids for €5.43 billion, and since this was well below the intended amount of €25 billion, all bids were allotted in full at a fixed price of -0.85 swap points.
On Wednesday, November 4, the ECB, in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve, conducted a seven-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending. This attracted bids for $22.18 billion, which amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.14 per cent.
In the domestic primary market for Treasury Bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 182-day bills maturing on May 7, 2010. Bids for €51.19 million were submitted, with the Treasury allotting €23.78 million. Since €27.53 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury Bills decreased by €3.75 million to €578.68 million. The yield resulting from the auction was 1.604 per cent, i.e. 0.9 basis points less than that on bills with a similar tenor issued on October 30, 2009. The latest yield represented a bid price of 99.1956 per 100 nominal.
Today the Treasury will invite tenders for 91-day bills maturing on February 12, 2010.
Treasury Bill trading on the Malta Stock Exchange amounted to €2.69 million during the week, with all trades being conducted by the Central Bank of Malta in its role as market facilitator.