On April 13, 2017, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on April 18 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €14.75 billion, €1.52 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 April 19, 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 $0.08 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.41 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 April 20, maturing on July 20 and October 19 respectively. Bids of €20 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €15 million, while no bids were submitted for the 182-day bills. Since €13.20 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €1.80 million, to stand at €227 million.

The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.350 per cent, up by 0.2 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on April 13, representing a bid price of €100.0886 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 July 27 and October 26 respectively.