On Monday, February 8, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on Tuesday, February 9, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €60.20 billion, €1.03 billion lower 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 0.05 per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On Wednesday, February 10, 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 $0.10 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.87 per cent.
Domestic Treasury bill market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 182-day bills maturing on May 12 and August 11, respectively. Bids of €18 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €16.80 million, while no bids were submitted for the 182-day bills. Since €22 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €5.20 million, to stand at €343.85 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.141 per cent, up by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on February 4, representing a bid price of 100.0357 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 and 182-day bills maturing on May 19 and August 18, respectively.