On February 12, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on February 13 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1.32 billion, €0.23 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 14, 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 for 91-day bills for settlement value February 15, maturing on May 17. Bids of €45 million were submitted, with the Treasury accepting €20 million.  Since €20 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills remained unchanged at €194 million.

The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.372 per cent, up by 1.1 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on February 8, representing a bid price of €100.0941 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 182-day bills maturing on March 22 and August 23 respectively.