On Friday, January 2, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The auction was conducted on Monday, January 5, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €112.33 billion, €43.79 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 0.05 per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.

On Wednesday, January 7, 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 0.61 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 28-day and 91-day bills maturing on February 6 and April 10, respectively. Bids of €17 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2 million, while bids of €34 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €12 million. Since €6 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €8 million, to stand at €157.44 million.

The yield from the 28-day bill auction was 0.015 per cent, i.e. 4.5 basis points lower than on bills with a similar tenor issued on December 12, representing a bid price of 99.9988 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was 0.035 per cent, i.e. 0.3 basis point higher than on bills with a similar tenor issued on January 2, representing a bid price of 99.9912 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 April 17 and July 17, respectively.

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