On Thursday, March 24, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on Tuesday, March 29, and attracted bids from eurozone eligible counterparties of €62.32 billion, €1.74 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, March 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 auction attracted bids of €10.25 billion from eurozone eligible counterparties. The amount was allotted in full in accordance with current ECB policy.
Also on Wednesday, March 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 $0.05 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.87 per cent.
Domestic Treasury bill market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 90-day and 181-day bills maturing on June 30 and September 29, respectively. Bids of €10 million were submitted for the 90-day bills, with the Treasury accepting all bids, while bids of €10 million were also submitted for the 181-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €5 million. Since €13 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €2 million, to stand at €369.65 million.
The yield from the 90-day bill auction was -0.138 per cent, up by 0.2 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on March 24, representing a bid price of 100.0345 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 181-day bill auction was -0.095 per cent, up by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on March 24, representing a bid price of 100.0478 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 7 and October 6, respectively.