ECB monetary operations
On April 22, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operations (MRO). The operation was conducted on April 23 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €5.96 billion, €0.56 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 0.00 per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On April 24, 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 operation attracted bids of €0.86 billion from euro area eligible counterparties.
The amount was allotted in full in accordance with current ECB policy.
Also on April 24, 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 $0.05 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 2.93 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 for settlement value April 25, 2019, maturing on July 25, and October 24 respectively. Bids of €50 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €25 million, while bids of €50 million were also submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2 million. Since €35 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €8 million, to stand at €341.80 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.349 per cent, unchanged from bids with a similar tenor issued since April 4, representing a bid price of €100.0883 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.301 per cent, a decrease of 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on April 18, representing a bid price of €100.1524 per €100 nominal.
During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.
Yesterday the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 182-day bills maturing on August 1 and October 31, 2019, respectively.