On Monday, November 16, the ECB announced its weekly Main Refinancing Operation (MRO). This auction, which was conducted on Tuesday, attracted bids for €52.58 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 current ECB policy. Also on Monday, November 16, 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 the euro. This operation attracted bids for €6.56 billion, and since this was well below the intended amount of €25 billion, all bids were allotted in full at a fixed price of -0.87 swap points.

On Wednesday, November 18, the ECB, in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve, conducted an eight-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending. This attracted bids for $19.91 billion, which amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.13 per cent.

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day bills maturing on February 19, 2010. Bids for €30.67 million were submitted, with the Treasury allotting €1.96 million. Since €17.48 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €15.52 million to €548.33 million.

The yield resulting from the auction was 1.429 per cent, i.e. 0.5 basis points less than that on bills with a similar tenor issued on November 13. The latest yield represented a bid price of 99.6401 per 100 nominal. Today, the Treasury will invite tenders for 91-day bills maturing on February 26, 2010 and 182-day bills maturing on May 28, 2010.

Treasury bill trading on the Malta Stock Exchange amounted to €3.09 million during the week, with €1.58 million trades being conducted by the Central Bank of Malta in its role as market maker and €1.50 million trades being conducted by other brokers. Off-exchange transactions amounted to €1.20 million.