ECB monetary operations

On September 28, the European Central Bank announced a seven-day Main Refinancing Operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on September 29 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1.22 billion, €0.64 billion less 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 September 30, the ECB conducted a three-month, longer-term refinancing operation to be settled as a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment, with the rate fixed at the average MRO rate over the life of the operation. The operation attracted bids of €0.51 billion from euro area eligible counterparties. Also on September 30, the ECB conducted the seven-day and 77-day US dollar funding operations through collatera­lised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve.

The seven-day USD operation attracted bids of $0.06 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.33 per cent.

The 77-day USD operation attracted bids of $0.01 billion, also allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.33 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 October 1, maturing on December 31, 2020 and April 1, 2021, respectively.

Bids of €100 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €15 million, while bids of €105 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury also accepting €15 million.

Since €40 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Trea­sury bills decreased by €10 million, standing at €747.50 million.

The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.485 per cent, a decrease of 0.8 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on September 24, representing a bid price of €100.1227 per €100 nominal.

The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.472 per cent, also a decrease of 0.8 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on September 24, representing a bid price of €100.2392 per €100 nominal.

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

Today, the Treasury will invite tenders for 28-day bills and 91-day bills maturing on November 5, 2020 and January 7, 2021, respectively.