On Monday, July 13, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation.
This auction, which was conducted last Tuesday, attracted bids for €100.29 billion from euro area eligible counterparties, €6.12 billion below the level of the previous week, and all bids were allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the main refinancing rate of one per cent in accordance with the current ECB policy.
On Monday, July 13, the Eurosystem and the Swiss National Bank conducted, a EUR/CHF foreign exchange swap, with a seven-day maturity, to provide Swiss franc liquidity against the euro. This operation attracted bids for €15.01 billion (which was below the intended amount of €25 billion) and all bids were allotted in full at a fixed price of -0.98 swap points.
On Tuesday, July 14, the Eurosystem, in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve, conducted an 84-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending. This attracted bids for $3.13 billion, which amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.21 per cent.
On Wednesday, July 15, the ECB, in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve, conducted another US dollar funding operation, this time with a tenor of seven days. This attracted bids for $43.76 billion, which amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.19 per cent.
In the domestic primary market for Treasury Bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day Bills maturing on October 16. Bids for €43.99 million were submitted, with the Treasury allotting €34.09 million. Since €47.38 million worth of Bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury Bills decreased by €13.29 million to €585.91 million.
The yield resulting from the auction was 1.593 per cent, i.e. 4.7 basis points lower than that on Bills with a similar tenor issued the previous week. The latest yield represented a bid price of 99.5989 per 100 nominal.
Last Tuesday, the Treasury invited tenders for 273-day Bills maturing on April 23, 2010.
Treasury Bill trading on the Malta Stock Exchange amounted to €3.69 million during the week, with €3.56 million trades being conducted by the Central Bank of Malta in its role as market maker and €0.13 million being conducted by other brokers.