On December 31, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on January 2 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €8.21 billion, €1.36 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 zero per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On January 3, the ECB conducted a six-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 2.90 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 January 3, maturing on April 4, and July 4, respectively. Bids of €28.50 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €19 million, while bids of €15 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €1 million. Since no bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €20 million, to stand at €310 million. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.348 per cent, up by 0.4 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on December 28, representing a bid price of €100.0880 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.289 per cent, an increase of 6.4 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on December 20, representing a bid price of €100.1463 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 bills maturing on April 11.