ECB monetary operations

On September 30, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operations (MRO). The operation was conducted on October 1 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1.82 billion, €0.98 |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 2, 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 $0.04 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 2.36 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 October 3, maturing on October 31 and January 2, 2020, respectively. Bids of €49 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €6 million, while bids of €49 million were also submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €19 million.

Since €30 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €5 million, at €274.30 million.

The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.417 per cent, a decrease of 6.1 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on November 29, 2018, representing a bid price of €100.0324 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.407 per cent, a decrease of 0.6 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on September 26, representing a bid price of €100.1030 per €100 nominal.

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

Last Tuesday the Treasury invited tenders for 28-day and 182-day bills maturing on November 7 and April 9, 2020, respectively.