ECB monetary operations
On May 17, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced the seven-day main refinancing operations (MRO).
The operation was conducted on May 18 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €117 million, €6m more than the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of 0.00 per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On May 19, the ECB conducted the seven-day and 84-day US dollar funding operations through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. The seven-day USD operation attracted bids of $104.50 million, which were allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.31 per cent. The 84-day USD operation attracted bids of $13.20 million, which were also allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.32 per cent.
Domestic Treasury bill market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day bills and 182-day bills for settlement value May 20, 2021, maturing on August 19, and November 18, 2021, respectively.
Bids of €80 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €18m, while bids of €80m were also submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €7m. Since €40 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €15m, standing at €826.75m.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.459 per cent, a decrease of 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on May 13, 2021, representing a bid price of €100.1162 per €100 nominal.
The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.450 per cent, also decreasing by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on May 13, 2021, representing a bid price of €100.2280 per €100 nominal.
During this week, secondary market turnover in Malta Government Treasury bills amounted to €3 million, all executed on the Off-exchange market of the Malta Stock Exchange.
Today the Treasury is inviting tenders for 91-day bills and 364-day bills maturing on August 26, 2021, and May 26, 2022, respectively.