On Monday, April 14, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The auction was conducted on Tuesday, April 15, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €112.17 billion, €7.55 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 0.25 per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.

Also on Tuesday, April 15, the ECB conducted an auction for a seven-day fixed-term deposit intended to absorb €172.50 billion. This operation was designed to sterilise the effect of purchases made under the Securities Markets Programme that were settled but had not yet matured by the previous Friday, April 11. The auction was carried out at a variable rate, with euro area eligible counterparties allowed to place up to four bids at a maximum rate of 0.25 per cent. It attracted bids amounting to €153.36 billion, with the ECB allotting the full amount. The marginal rate on the auction was set at 0.25 per cent, with the weighted average rate at 0.23 per cent.

On Wednesday, April 16, the ECB conducted a seven-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation was carried out at a fixed rate of 0.58 per cent and once again did not attract bids from euro area eligible counterparties.

Domestic Treasury bill market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 92-day and 183-day bills maturing on July 18 and October 17. Bids of €24.60 million were submitted for the 92-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €12.60 million, while bids of €28.65 million were submitted for the 183-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €13.65 million. Since €36 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €9.75 million, to stand at €372.95 million.

The yield from the 92-day bill auction was 0.362 per cent, i.e. 0.30 basis points lower than on bills with a similar tenor issued on April 11, representing a bid price of 99.9076 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 183-day bill auction was 0.666 per cent, i.e. 0.40 basis points higher than on bills with a similar tenor issued on April 11, representing a bid price of 99.6626 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 25 and October 24, respectively.