On December 17, the European Central Bank announced a 14-day main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on December 18, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €9.57 billion, €2.48 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 December 19, the ECB conducted a three-month, longer-term refinancing operation to be settled as a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment, with the rate fixed at the average rate of the MROs over the life of the operation.
The operation attracted bids of €1.55 billion from euro area eligible counterparties. The amount was allotted in full in accordance with current ECB policy. Also on December 19, the ECB conducted a 15-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation attracted bids of $4.20 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 2.88 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 December 20, maturing on March 21, and June 20, 2019, respectively. Bids of €40 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €35 million, while bids of €45 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €10 million. Since €40.30 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €4.70 million, to stand at €291 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.354 per cent, up by 0.1 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on December 12, representing a bid price of €100.0896 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.353 per cent, an increase of 0.3 basis points from bids with a similar tenor also issued on December 12, representing a bid price of €100.1788 per €100 nominal.
During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.
Yesterday, the Treasury invited tenders for 90-day and 272-day bills maturing on March 28, and September 26, 2019, respectively.