ECB monetary operations

On June 19, the European Central Bank announced the seven-day main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on June 20 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1,244 million, €82.50 million more than the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equiva­lent to the prevailing MRO rate of four per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.

On June 21, the ECB conducted the seven-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation attracted bids of $303.50 million, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 5.33 per cent.

Domestic Treasury bill market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 90-day and 182-day bills for settlement value June 22, maturing on September 20 and December 21, respectively.

Bids of €231.27 million were submitted for the 90-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €50.21 million, while bids of €44.30 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €5.21 million. Since €24.89 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €30.52 million, standing at €929.35 million.

The yield from the 90-day bill auction was 3.438 per cent, increasing by 6.00 basis points from bids with a simi­lar tenor issued on June 15, representing a bid price of €99.1478 per €100 nominal.

The yield from the 182-day bill auction was 3.315 per cent, decreasing by 0.90 basis point from bids with a similar tenor also issued on June 15, representing a bid price of €98.3517 per €100 nominal.

During last week there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.

Yesterday, the Treasury invited tenders for 92-day and 184-day bills maturing on September 28 and December 29, respectively.

This report was prepared by the Monetary Operations and Collateral Management Office of the Central Bank of Malta.