On April 16, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on April 17 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1.64 billion, €0.04 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 April 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 $0.08 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 2.19 per cent.

Domestic Treasury bill market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders 91-day and 182-day bills for settlement value April 19 maturing on July 19 and October 18 respectively. Bids of €33 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €23 million, while bids of €27 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €3 million. Since €25 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €1 million, to stand at €303 million.

The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.352 per cent, up by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on April 12, representing a bid price of €100.0891 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.355 per cent, up by 0.2 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on April 5, representing a bid price of €100.1798 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 July 26 and October 25 respectively.