On Monday, March 9, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The auction was conducted the following day and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €141.84 billion, €6.01 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, March 11, 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 91-day and 182-day bills maturing on June 12 and September 11, respectively. Bids of €33 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €1 million, while bids of €33 million were also submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2 million. Since €4.30 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €1.30 million, to stand at €205.14 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was 0.022 per cent, i.e. 0.2 basis point higher than on bills with a similar tenor issued on February 27, representing a bid price of 99.9944 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was 0.028 per cent, i.e. also 0.2 basis points higher than on bills with a similar tenor issued on March 6, representing a bid price of 99.9858 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, maturing on June 19.