On October 1, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on October 2, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €7.24 billion, €0.81 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 October 3, 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 2.69 per cent.
Domestic Treasury bill market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 28-day and 182-day bills for settlement value October 4, maturing on November 1, 2018 and April 4, 2019, respectively. Bids of €40 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €11 million, while bids of €40 million were also submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €4 million. Since €33 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €18 million, to stand at €307.50 million. The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.353 per cent, up by 0.3 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on August 30, representing a bid price of €100.0275 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.349 per cent, an increase of 0.6 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on September 6, representing a bid price of €100.1768 per €100 nominal.
During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.
Today, the Treasury will invite tenders for 28-day bills maturing on November 8.