On February 11, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operations (MRO). The operation was conducted on February 12 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €5.91 billion, €0.49bn 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 February 13, 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 $0.06 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 bills and 181-day bills for settlement value February 14, maturing on May 16, and August 14, 2019, respectively. Bids of €40 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €23 million, while bids of €35m were submitted for the 181-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2m. Since no bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €25 million, to stand at €418.10m.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.345 per cent, up by 0.2 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on February 7, representing a bid price of €100.0873 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 181-day bill auction was -0.296 per cent, an increase of 2.4 basis points from bids with a similar tenor also issued on February 7, representing a bid price of €100.1490 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 May 23, 2019.