On Monday, July 11, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on Tuesday, July 12,and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €42.47 billion, €1.62 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, July 13, 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 $5 million, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.90 per cent.

Domestic Treasury bill market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day, maturing on October 13. Bids of €50 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €15 million. Since €17 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €2 million, to stand at €310.25 million. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.297 per cent, down by 1.1 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on July 7, representing a bid price of 100.0751 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 October 20, 2016 and January 19, 2017, respectively.