On Monday, February 23, the ECB announced its weekly Main Refinancing Operation. This attracted bids for €237.80 billion from euro area eligible counterparties, which amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing main refinancing rate of two per cent.
On the same day, 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 €31.71 billion. As the volume of bids exceeded the intended volume of € 25 billion, participating counterparties received 78.84 per cent of the amounts bid for. This operation was conducted at a fixed price of -4.67 swap points.
On Tuesday, February 24, the ECB announced a standard Longer-Term Refinancing Operation with a maturity of 91 days. In this LTRO, the ECB received bids for €21.64 billion, at a fixed rate equivalent to the ECB's main refinancing rate of two per cent.
On the same day, the ECB, in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve, conducted an 84-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending. This attracted bids for $19.17 billion, which amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.25 per cent.
On Wednesday, February 25, the ECB, in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve, conducted another US dollar funding operation, this time for a tenor of seven days. This attracted bids for $75.13 billion, which amount was again allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.25 per cent. In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day bills maturing on May 29.
Bids for €26.10 million were submitted, with the Treasury accepting all bids. Since €12.72 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €13.38 million to €474.97 million.
The yield resulting from the auction was 2.359 per cent, that is, four basis points higher than that on bills with a similar tenor issued on February 20. The latest yield represented a bid price of 99.4072 per 100 nominal.
Today the Treasury will invite tenders for 91-day bills maturing on June 5 and for 182-day bills maturing on September 4.
Treasury bill trading on the Malta Stock Exchange amounted to €5.82 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 €0.21 million.