On May 15, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on May 16 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €13.98 billion, €0.30 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 May 17, the ECB conducted an eight-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation attracted bids of $0.04 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 May 18, maturing on August 17 and November 16, respectively. Bids of €31 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €11 million, while bids of €50 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2 million. Since €3 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €10 million, to stand at €234 million. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.319 per cent, up by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on May 4, representing a bid price of €100.0807 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.290 per cent, unchanged from bids with a similar tenor issued on May 11, representing a bid price of €100.1468 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 bills maturing on August 24.