ECB monetary operations
On November 29, the European Central Bank announced the seven-day main refinancing operations (MRO). The operation was conducted on November 30 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €200 million, €43 million more than 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 1, 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 $216.50 million, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.33 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 December 2, maturing on December 30, 2021, and March 3, 2022, respectively.
Bids of €45 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €3 million, while bids of €45.72 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €25.72 million. Since €34 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €5.28 million, standing at €639.72 million.
The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.429 per cent, decreasing by 0.5 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on November 25, representing a bid price of €100.0334 per €100 nominal.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.409 per cent, increasing by 2.4 basis points from bids with a similar tenor also issued on November 25, representing a bid price of €100.1035 per €100 nominal.
During this week, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.
Yesterday, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 182-day bills maturing on March 10 and June 9, 2022, respectively.
The report is prepared by the Monetary Operations and Collateral Management Office of the Central Bank of Malta.