On July 30, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on July 31 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €2.54 billion, which was €0.59 billion higher than the bid amount from 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 the current ECB policy.

On August 2, the ECB conducted a six-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation attracted bids of $0.10 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 2.42 per cent.

Domestic Treasury bill market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 28-day and 91-day bills for settlement value August 2, maturing on August 30 and November 1, respectively. Bids of €27 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €8.10 million, while bids of €47 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €15 million. Since €22 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills stands at €372.10 million.

The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.354 per cent, up by 0.1 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on July 19, representing a bid price of €100.0275 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.357 per cent, down by 0.4 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on July 26, representing a bid price of €100.0903 per €100 nominal.

During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange. The Treasury will invite tenders for 28-day and 91-day bills today, maturing on September 6 and November 8, respectively.