On Monday, October 24, the European Central Bank  announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted the following day and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €36.03 billion, €2.60 billion higher 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, October 26, 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 €5.43 billion from euro area eligible counterparties. The amount was allotted in full in accordance with current ECB policy.

Also on Wednesday, October 26, 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 $1.02 billion, 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 28-day and 182-day bills maturing on November 24 and April 27, 2017, respectively. Bids of €25 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2 million, while bids of €40 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €20 million. Since €17 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €5 million, to stand at €260.75 million.

The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.393 per cent, unchanged from bids with a similar tenor issued on October 20, representing a bid price of 100.0306 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.379 per cent, down by six basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on August 25, representing a bid price of 100.1920 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 and 91-day bills maturing on December 1, and February 2, 2017, respectively.

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