On Monday, February 10, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The auction was conducted the following day and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €93.28 billion, €1.86 billion lower than the bid amount of the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of 0.25 per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.
Also on Tuesday, February 11, the ECB conducted a special-term refinancing operation with a maturity of 28 days. This attracted bids of €6.48 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of 0.25 per cent, also in accordance with the current ECB policy.
Furthermore, on Tuesday, February 11, the ECB conducted an auction for a seven-day fixed-term deposit intended to absorb €175.5 billion. This operation was 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, February 7. The auction was carried out at a variable rate, with euro area eligible counterparties allowed to place up to four bids at a maximum rate of 0.25 per cent. It attracted bids amounting to €195.92 billion, with the ECB allotting €175.5 billion, or 89.58 per cent of the total bid amount. The marginal rate on the auction was set at 0.25 per cent, with the weighted average rate at 0.23 per cent.
On Wednesday, February 12, 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 0.58 per cent and did not attract bids from euro area eligible counterparties.
Domestic Treasury bill market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 181-day bills maturing on May 16 and August 14, respectively. Bids of €19 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €7 million, while bids of €25.5 million were submitted for the 181-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €13.5 million. Since no bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €20.5 million, to stand at €351.17 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was 0.365 per cent, i.e. 0.3 basis point higher than on bills with a similar tenor issued on February 7, representing a bid price of 99.9078 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 181-day bill auction was 0.642 per cent, i.e. 0.6 basis point higher than on bills with a similar tenor issued on February 7, representing a bid price of 99.6783 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 and 182-day bills maturing on May 23 and August 22, respectively.