On June 19, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO).The operation was conducted on June 20 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €11.52 billion, €0.51 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 zero per cent in accordance with current ECB policy.
On June 21, 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 $0.04 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.66 per cent.
Domestic Treasury bill market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 90-day and 182-day bills for settlement value June 22, maturing on September 20 and December 21, respectively. Bids of €35 million were submitted for the 90-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €3 million, while bids of €40.00 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting also €2.40 million. Since €18 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €12.60 million, to stand at €184.40 million.
The yield from the 90-day bill auction was -0.340 per cent, down by 0.6 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on June 15, representing a bid price of €100.0851 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.290 per cent, also down by 0.6 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on June 15, representing a bid price of €100.1468 per €100 nominal.
During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.
Yesterday, the Treasury invited tenders for 92-day and 184-day bills maturing on September 28 and December 29, respectively.