On August 6, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on August 7 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €2.75 billion, €0.20 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 August 8, 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 $0.11 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 2.41 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 August 9, maturing on September 6, and November 8, respectively. Bids of €25 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €8 million, while bids of €45 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €12 million. Since €27 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €7 million, to stand at €365.10 million.
The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.355 per cent, down by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on August 2, representing a bid price of €100.0276 per €100 nominal.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.357 per cent, unchanged from bids with a similar tenor issued also on August 2, representing a bid price of €100.0903 per €100 nominal.
During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.
Yesterday, the Treasury invited tenders for 28-day and 91-day bills maturing on September 13 and November 15, respectively.