On Monday, July 4, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on Tuesday, July 5, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €44.09 billion, €8.97 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, July 6, 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 $2 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.89 per cent.
Domestic Treasury bill market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 364-day bills, maturing on October 6, 2016 and July 6, 2017. Bids of €45 millionwere submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €10 million, while bids of €30 million were submitted for the 364-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2 million.
Since €13 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €1 million, to stand at €312.25 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.286 per cent, down by 0.6 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on June 30, representing a bid price of 100.0723 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 364-day bill auction was -0.280 per cent, also down by 15.9 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on December 24, 2015, representing a bid price of 100.2839 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 October 13.