On October 16, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on October 17 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €3.82 billion, €17.52 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 October 18, 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 28-day and 182-day bills for settlement value October 19, maturing on November 16 and April 19, 2018, respectively.
Bids of €40 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €10 million, while bids of €70 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €18 million. Since €10 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €18 million, to stand at €121.40 million.
The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.379 per cent, down by 0.7 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on July 27, and representing a bid price of €100.0295 per €100 nominal.
The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.325 per cent, down by 2.5 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on August 3, and representing a bid price of €100.1646 per €100 nominal.
During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.
Today, the Treasury will invite tenders for 28-day and 91-day bills maturing on November 23 and January 25, 2018, respectively.