On Monday, September 26, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on Tuesday, September 27, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €38.74 billion, €4.44 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, September 28, the ECB conducted a three-month, longer-term refinancing operation to be settled as a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment, with the rate fixed at the average rate of the MROs over the life of the operation. The operation attracted bids of €4.57 billion from euro area eligible counterparties. The amount was allotted in full in accordance with current ECB policy.
Also on Wednesday, September 28, 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 $6.35 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 28-day and 91-day bills maturing on October 27 and December 29, respectively. Bids of €25 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2 million, while bids of €75 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €25 million. Since €32 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €5 million, to stand at €269.75 million.
The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.390 per cent, down by 4.9 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on August 4, representing a bid price of 100.0303 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.389 per cent, down by 1.1 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on September 22, representing a bid price of 100.0984 per 100 nominal.
During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.
Today, the Treasury will invite tenders for 28-day maturing on November 3.