On Monday, January 9, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted the following day and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €32.32 billion, €1.69 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, January 11, 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 $0.27 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.16 per cent.

Domestic Treasury bill market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 182-day bills maturing on April 13 and July 13, respectively. Bids of €75.20 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €10 million, while bids of €75 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €5 million. Since €10 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €5.00 million, to stand at €277 million.

The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.396 per cent, down by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on January 5, representing a bid price of 100.1002 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.390 per cent, down by 0.4 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on November 24, 2016, representing a bid price of 100.1976 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 April 20 and July 20, respectively.

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