On February 5, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on February 6 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparts of €1.55 billion, €0.35 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 February 7, 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 $0.06 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.92 per cent.

Domestic Treasury bill market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders 91-day and 273-day bills for settlement value February 8, maturing on May 10 and November 8, respectively.

Bids of €35 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 €194 million.

The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.383 per cent, down by 0.2 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on February 1, representing a bid price of €100.0969 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 273-day bill auction was -0.380 per cent, down by 4.5 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on January 18, representing a bid price of €100.2890 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 May 17.