On Monday, February 16, 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 €122.11 billion, €17.58 billion higher 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, February 18, 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 0.62 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 182-day bills maturing on March 20 and August 21, respectively. Bids of €16 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2 million, while bids of €15 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €8 million. Since €15.10 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €5.10 million, to stand at €209.94 million.
The yield from the 28-day bill auction was 0.010 per cent, i.e. 1.0 basis point lower than on bills with a similar tenor issued on January 30, representing a bid price of 99.9992 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was 0.032 per cent, i.e. 0.5 basis point lower than on bills with a similar tenor issued on February 13, representing a bid price of 99.9838 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 29 and August 28, respectively.