On September 3, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on September 4 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €3.62 billion, €1.08 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 September 5, 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 2.42 per cent.
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 September 6, maturing on December 6 and March 7, 2019, respectively. Bids of €30 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €19 million, while bids of €26 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2 million. Since €23 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €2.00 million, to stand at €349.50 million. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.356 per cent, unchanged from bids with a similar tenor issued on August 30, representing a bid price of €100.0901 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.355 per cent, down by 7.0 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on July 12, 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 90-day and 273-day bills maturing on December 12 and June 13, 2019, respectively.