ECB monetary operations
On April 9, the European Central Bank announced a seven-day main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on April 14 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €0.22 billion, €0.09 billion less 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 April 14, the ECB conducted the additional longer-term refinancing operation maturing on June 24, which attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €4.64 billion. This operation was carried out through a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment, with an interest rate that is equal to the average deposit facility rate during the life of the operation.
On April 15, the ECB conducted the 84-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation attracted bids of $2.26 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.33 per cent.
On a daily basis, the ECB conducted the seven-day US dollar funding operations through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. The four operations attracted bids of a total of $5.94 billion, at the rates of 0.30 and 0.31 per cent.
Domestic Treasurybill market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 182-day bills for settlement value on April 16, maturing on July 16 and October 15, respectively. Bids of €10 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting all bids, while bids of €70 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €50 million. Since €20 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €40 million, standing at €599 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.240 per cent, an increase of 8.7 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on April 9, representing a bid price of €100.0607 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.188 per cent, an increase of 12.6 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on April 2, representing a bid price of €100.0951 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 and 364-day bills maturing on July 23, 2020 and April 22, 2021, respectively.