ECB monetary operations
On December 4, the European Central Bank announced the seven-day main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on December 5 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €6,508 million, €1,963.50 million less than the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of 4.50%, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On December 6, 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 $338.00 million, which were allotted in full at a fixed rate of 5.58%.
During the week under review, participants in the third series of targeted longer-term refinancing operations 7 to 10 had the option of terminating or reducing their outstanding amount before maturity. Accordingly, on December 20, a total of €61,668.33 million will be repaid.
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 December 7, maturing on March 7 and June 6, 2024, respectively.
Bids of €123.08 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €37.93 million, while bids of €78.80 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €44.40 million. Since €35.43 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €46.90 million, standing at €594.33 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was 3.636%, increasing by 3.70 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on November 30, representing a bid price of €99.0893 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was 3.498%, decreasing by 4.20 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on November 23, 2023, representing a bid price of €98.2623 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 14 and June 13, 2024, respectively.
The report is prepared by the Monetary Operations and Collateral Management Office of the Central Bank of Malta.