On Monday, May 16, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted the following day and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €49.95 billion, €1.49 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 0.00 per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On Wednesday, May 18, 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 0.86 per cent.
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 August 18 and November 17. Bids of €39 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €21 million, while bids of €30 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €4 million. Since €1 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €24 million, to stand at €352.40 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.207 per cent, down by 1.6 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on May 5, representing a bid price of 100.0524 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was 0.190 per cent, down by one basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on May 12, representing a bid price of 100.0961 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 25 and November 24, respectively.