Money market report for the week ended March 3
Information on ECB monetary operations and the domestic Treasury bill market
ECB monetary operations
On February 27, the European Central Bank announced the seven-day main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on February 28 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €821 million, €402 million less than the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of three per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On March 1, 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 $409.10 million, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 4.83 per cent.
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 March 2, maturing on June 1 and August 31, respectively.
Bids of €202.65 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €31.35 million, while bids of €45.43 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €9.82 million.
Since €42.15 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €0.99 million, standing at €897.39 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was 2.777 per cent, increasing by 6.70 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on February 23, representing a bid price of €99.3029 per €100 nominal.
The yield from the 182-day bill auction was 2.914 per cent, increasing by 1.90 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on February 23, representing a bid price of €98.5482 per €100 nominal.
During this week, secondary market turnover in Malta Government Treasury bills amounted to €0.05 million, all executed on the off-exchange market of the Malta Stock Exchange.
Today, the Treasury will invite tenders for 91-day and 182-day bills maturing on June 8 and September 7, respectively.
The report is prepared by the Monetary Operations and Collateral Management Office of the Central Bank of Malta.