On Monday, August 29, the ECB announced its weekly Main Refinancing Operation (MRO). The auction was conducted on Tuesday, August 30, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €121.67 billion, €12 billion lower than the amount bid for in the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing main refinancing rate of 1.50 per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On Tuesday, August 30, the ECB conducted an auction for a seven-day fixed-term deposit intended to absorb €115.50 billion. This operation is designed to sterilise the effect of purchases made under the Securities Markets Programme that were settled but had not yet matured by the previous Friday, August 26. The auction was carried out at a variable rate, with euro area eligible counterparties allowed to place up to two bids at a maximum rate of 1.50 per cent. It attracted bids amounting to €152.91 billion, with the ECB allotting €115.50 billion or 75.53 per cent of the total amount bid for. The marginal rate on the auction was set at 1.14 per cent, with the weighted average rate at 1.02 per cent.
Also on Tuesday, August 30, the ECB announced a three-month Longer-Term Refinancing Operation to be settled as a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment, with the rate fixed at the average rate of the MROs over the life of the operation. The auction attracted bids of €49.36 billion from euro area eligible counterparties, which amount was allotted in full, in accordance with current ECB policy.
Moreover, on Wednesday, August 31, the ECB conducted a seven-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation was carried out at a fixed rate of 1.10 per cent and no bids were placed by euro-area eligible counterparties.
Domestic Treasury Bill market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury Bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 28-day and 91-day bills maturing on September 30 and December 2, respectively. Bids of €17.50 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting only €2 million, while bids of €41.27 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting only €4 million. Since €9.35 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury Bills decreased by €3.35 million, to stand at €314.60 million.
The yield from the 28-day bill auction was 1.000 per cent, i.e. 21.4 basis points lower than that on bills with a similar tenor issued on August 19, representing a bid price of 99.9223 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was 1.400 per cent, i.e. 3.8 basis points lower than that on bills with a similar tenor issued on August 26, representing a bid price of 99.6474 per 100 nominal.
During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.
Today, the Treasury will invite tenders for 91-day bills and 182-day bills maturing on December 9, 2011 and March 9, 2012, respectively.