On March 13, 2017, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on March 14 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €26.51 billion, €2.63 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 March 15, 2017, 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 $1.02 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.42 per cent.
During the week under review, participants in the first series of targeted longer-term refinancing operations had the option of terminating or reducing their outstanding amount in these operations before maturity. Accordingly, on March 29, a total of €16.74 billion will be repaid.
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 March 16, maturing on June 15 and September 14, respectively.
Bids of €35 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €10 million, while bids of €10 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €5 million. Since €20 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €5 million, to stand at €239.20 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.350 per cent, unchanged from bids with a similar tenor issued on March 9, representing a bid price of €100.0886 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.349 per cent, up by 0.3 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on March 9, representing a bid price of €100.1768 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 181-day bills maturing on June 22 and September 20, respectively.