On July 10, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on July 11 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €7.10 billion, €1.15 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 zero per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On July 12, 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 91-day and 364-day bills for settlement value on July 13, maturing on October 12 and July 12, 2018, respectively. Bids of €30 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €8 million, while bids of €35 million were submitted for the 364-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2 million. Since €15 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €5 million, to stand at €179.40 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.341 per cent, down by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on July 6, representing a bid price of €100.0863 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 364-day bill auction was -0.189 per cent, up by 10.2 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on September 1, 2016, representing a bid price of €100.1915 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 bills maturing on October 19.