ECB monetary operations

On February 10, the European Central Bank announced a seven-day main refinancing operations (MRO). The operation was conducted on February 11 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €0.90 billion, €0.06 billion more 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 February 12, 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 $0.06 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 2.08 per cent.

Domestic Treasury bill market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day bills for settlement value February 13, maturing on May 14. Bids of €15 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €13 million. Since €13 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills remained unchanged at €388 million.

The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.436 per cent, a decrease of 0.3 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on February 6, representing a bid price of €100.1103 per €100 nominal.  During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.

Today, the Treasury will invite tenders for 91-day bills and 273-day bills maturing on May 21 and November 19, respectively.