ECB monetary operations

On October 12, the European Central Bank announced a seven-day Main Refinancing Operation. The operation was conducted on October 13 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1.01 billion, €0.16 billion lower 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 October 14, the ECB conducted the seven-day and 84-day US dollar funding operations through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. The seven-day USD operation attracted bids of $0.05 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.34 per cent. The 84-day USD operation attracted bids of $0.02 billion, also 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 bills and 182-day bills for settlement value October 15, maturing on November 12 and April 15, 2021, respectively. Bids of €95 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €20 million, while bids of €115 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €10 million. Since €50 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €20 million, standing at €717.50 million.

The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.485 per cent, unchanged from bids with a similar tenor issued on October 8, representing a bid price of €100.0377 per €100 nominal.

The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.476 per cent, a decrease of 0.4 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on October 1, representing a bid price of €100.2412 per €100 nominal.

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

Today, the Treasury will invite tenders for 28-day bills and 91-day bills maturing on November 19 and January 21, 2021, respectively.