On Monday, August 24, the ECB announced its weekly Main Refinancing Operation (MRO). This auction, which was conducted on Tuesday, attracted bids for €77.53 billion from euro area eligible counterparties, which amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing main refinancing rate of one per cent in accordance with the current ECB policy.
Also on Monday, August 24, the Eurosystem and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) conducted a EUR/CHF foreign exchange swap, with a seven-day maturity, to provide Swiss franc liquidity against euro. This operation attracted bids for €10.78 billion, and all bids were allotted in full at a fixed price of -0.83 swap points, since the bid amount was below the €25 billion on offer.
On Tuesday, August 25, the ECB announced a standard Longer-Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO) with a maturity of 91 days. In this LTRO, the ECB received bids for €8.32 billion, which amount was also allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the ECB's main refinancing rate of one per cent in accordance with the current ECB policy.
On Wednesday, August 26, the ECB, in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve, conducted a US dollar funding operation with a tenor of seven-days. This attracted bids for $42.06 billion, which amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.17 per cent.
In the domestic primary market for Treasury Bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 273-day bills maturing on May 28, 2010. Bids for €51.82 million were submitted, with the Treasury allotting €24.95 million. Since €16.89 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury Bills increased by €8.05 million to €602.06 million.
The yield resulting from the auction was 1.639 per cent, i.e. 9.1 basis points lower than that on bills with a similar tenor issued on July 24, 2009. The latest yield represented a bid price of 98.7724 per 100 nominal. Today the Treasury will invite tenders for 91-day bills maturing on December 4, 2009 and for 182-day bills maturing on March 5, 2010.
Treasury Bill trading on the Malta Stock Exchange amounted to €6.11 million during the week, with all trades being conducted by the Central Bank of Malta in its role as market maker. Off-exchange transactions amounted to only € 0.16 million.