On Monday, May 9, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on Tuesday, May 10, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €51.44 billion, €2.11 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 zero per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy. On Wednesday, May 11, the ECB conducted a seven-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation attracted bids of $1.01 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.87 per cent.
Domestic Treasury bill market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 182-day bills maturing on November 10. Bids of €65 million were submitted, with the Treasury accepting €17.25 million. Since €16.80 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €0.45 million, to stand at €328.40 million.
The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.180 per cent, down by 0.9 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on May 5, representing a bid price of 100.0911 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 August 18 and November 17, respectively.