On February 19, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on February 20 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1.54 billion, €0.22bn 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 0.00 per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.

On February 21, 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 $0.07bn, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.91 per cent.

Domestic Treasury bill market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 28-day and 182-day bills for settlement value February 22, maturing on March 22 and August 23 respectively. Bids of €35 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2 million, while bids of €55 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €20 million. Since no bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €22 million, to stand at €216 million.

The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.375 per cent, up by 0.3 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on November 30, 2017, representing a bid price of €100.0292 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.367 per cent, down by 2.4 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on January 25, representing a bid price of €100.1859 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 May 31.