ECB monetary operations

On July 6, the European Central Bank announced a seven-day Main Refinancing Operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on July 7 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1.09 billion, €0.28 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 July 8, the ECB conducted an 84-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation attracted bids of $0.05 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.32 per cent.

During the week under review, the ECB conducted three seven-day US dollar funding operations through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. These operations attracted total bids of $0.34 billion, at the rates of 0.33 and 0.34 per cent.

Domestic Treasury bill market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day bills and 182-day bills for settlement value July 9, maturing on October 8, 2020 and January 7, 2021, respectively. Bids of €125 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €38 million, while bids of €125 million were also submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2 million. Since €53 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €13 million, standing at €817 million.

The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.453 per cent, a decrease of 1.3 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on June 25, 2020, representing a bid price of €100.1146 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.440 per cent, a decrease of 0.5 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on July 2, representing a bid price of €100.2229 per €100 nominal.

During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.

Today, the Treasury will invite tenders for 182-day bills and 273-day bills maturing on January 14 and April 15, 2021, respectively.