On October 15, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on October 16 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €7.86 billion, €0.56 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 17, 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 $0.08 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 91-day bills for settlement value October 18, maturing on November 15 and January 17, 2019, respectively.
Bids of €40 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €15 million, while bids of €55 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €21 million. Since €31 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €5 million, to stand at €300 million.
The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.355 per cent, up by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on October 11, representing a bid price of €100.0276 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.355 per cent, a decrease of 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on September 27, 2018, representing a bid price of €100.0898 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 and 182-day bills maturing on November 22 and April 25, 2019, respectively.