On May 28, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation. The operation was conducted on May 29 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1.55 billion, €0.59 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 May 30, the ECB conducted a three-month, longer-term refinancing operation to be settled as a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment, with the rate fixed at the average rate of the MROs over the life of the operation. The operation attracted bids of €2.89 billion from euro area eligible counterparties. The amount was allotted in full in accordance with current ECB policy. Also on May 30, 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 $0.07 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 2.20 per cent.
Domestic Treasury bill market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 182-day bills for settlement value May 31, maturing on August 30 and November 29, respectively. Bids of €30 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €20 million, while bids of €25 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €3 million. Since €25 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €2 million, to stand at €327 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.356 per cent, up by 0.4 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on May 24, representing a bid price of €100.0901 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.360 per cent, down by 0.3 basis point from bids with a similar tenor also issued on May 24, representing a bid price of €100.1823 per €100 nominal.
During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.
Yesterday, the Treasury invited tenders for 92-day and 183-day bills maturing on September 6 and December 6, respectively.