On August 7, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on August 8 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €4.59 billion, €0.32 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 August 9, 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 bills for settlement value August 10, maturing on November 9. Bids of €35 million were submitted, with the Treasury accepting €7 million. Since €20 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €13 million, to stand at €143.40 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.350 per cent, down by 0.5 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on August 3, representing a bid price of €100.0886 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 273-day bills maturing on November 16 and May 17, 2018, respectively.