On Monday, January 25, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation. The operation was conducted on Tuesday, January 26, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €68.96 billion, €3.77 billion higher 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, January 27, the ECB conducted a three-month, longer-term refinancing operation to be settled as a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment, with the rate fixed at the average rate of the MROs over the life of the operation. The auction attracted bids of €13.56 billion from euro area eligible counterparties. The amount was allotted in full in accordance with current ECB policy.
Also on Wednesday, January 27, 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 $0.09 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.84 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 April 28 and July 28, respectively. Bids of €29 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €17 million, while bids of €6 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €3 million. Since no bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €20 million, to stand at €326.05 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.151 per cent, down by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on January 21, representing a bid price of 100.0382 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.120 per cent, unchanged from bids with a similar tenor issued on January 21, representing a bid price of 100.0607 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 273-day bills maturing on May 5 and November 3, respectively.