On January 30, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on January 31 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €31.65 billion, €2.35 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 February 1, 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 for settlement value on February 2, maturing on May 4, and August 3, respectively. Bids of €45 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €8 million, while bids of €30 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2 million. Since €7 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €3 million, to stand at €281.20 million.

The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.393 per cent, up by 0.3 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on January 19, representing a bid price of €100.0994 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.393 per cent, down by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on January 26, representing a bid price of €100.1991 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 273-day bills maturing on May 11 and November 9, respectively.