On June 18, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on June 19 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1.54 billion, €0.41 billion higher 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 June 20, 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 $0.09 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 2.41 per cent.
During the week under review, participants in the first operation from the second series of targeted longer-term refinancing operations had the option of terminating or reducing their outstanding amount in this operation before maturity. Accordingly, on June 27, a total of €11 billion will be repaid.
Domestic Treasury bill market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 182-day bills for settlement value June 21, maturing on September 20 and December 20, respectively. Bids of €25 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €22 million, while bids of €20 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €3 million. Since €12 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €13 million, to stand at €333 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.354 per cent, up by 0.2 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on June 14, representing a bid price of €100.0896 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.359 per cent, an increase of 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor also issued on June 14, representing a bid price of €100.1818 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 183-day bills maturing on September 27 and December 28, respectively.