On January 15, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on January 16 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €2.42 billion, €0.59 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 January 17, 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 $0.07 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.91 per cent.

Domestic Treasury bill market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 273-day bills for settlement value January 18, maturing on April 19, and October 18, respectively. Bids of €38 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €7 million, while bids of €40 million were submitted for the 273-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €3 million. Since no bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €10 million, to stand at €197 million.

The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.372 per cent, up by 0.7 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on January 11, 2018, representing a bid price of €100.0941 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 273-day bill auction was -0.335 per cent, down by 1.5 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on November 9, 2017, representing a bid price of €100.2547 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 and 182-day bills maturing on April 26, and July 26, respectively.