On February 13, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on February 14 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €28.01 billion, €1.59 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 15, 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 $0.14 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 16, maturing on May 18 and August 17, respectively. Bids of €15 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €3 million, while no bids were submitted for the 182-day bills. Since €22 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €19 million, to stand at €267.20 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.350 per cent, unchanged from bids with a similar tenor issued on February 9, 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 28-day and 182-day bills maturing on March 23 and August 24, respectively.