On August 13, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on August 14, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €2.74 billion, €0.01 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 0.00 per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On August 15, 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 $0.07 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 2.41 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 16, maturing on September 13 and November 15 respectively. Bids of €15 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €5 million, while bids of €21.50 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €17.50 million. Since €24 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €1.50 million, to stand at €363.60 million.
The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.356 per cent, down by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on August 9, representing a bid price of €100.0277 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.356 per cent, up by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued also on August 9, representing a bid price of €100.0901 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 364-day bills maturing on November 22, 2018, and August 22, 2019, respectively.