On Monday, November 28, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on Tuesday, November 29, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €35.95 billion, €2.23 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 zero per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On Wednesday, November 30, 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 €3.27 billion from euro area eligible counterparties. The amount was allotted in full in accordance with current ECB policy.
Also on Wednesday, November 30, 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 $1.33 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 28-day and 91-day bills maturing on December 29 and March 2, 2017, respectively. No bids were submitted for the 28-day bills, while bids of €45 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €32 million. Since €27 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €5 million, to stand at €276 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.388 per cent, up by 0.3 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on November 17, representing a bid price of 100.0982 per 100 nominal. During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.
Yesterday, the Treasury invited tenders for 92-day and 274-day bills maturing on March 9 and September 7, 2017, respectively.