ECB monetary operations
On September 12, the European Central Bank announced the seven-day main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on September 13 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €3.93 billion, €0.25 million more than the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of 1.25 per cent, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On September 14, 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 $209.60 million, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 2.58 per cent.
During the week under review, participants in the TLTRO-III operations two to 10 had the option of terminating or reducing their outstanding amount before maturity. Accordingly, on September 28, a total of € 6,491.6 million will be repaid.
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 September 15, maturing on December 15, 2022, and March 16, 2023, respectively. Bids of €64 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €34 million, while bids of €28 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €19 million. Since €32 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €21 million, standing at €984 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was 0.793 per cent, increasing by 27.2 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on September 7, representing a bid price of €99.7999 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was 1.442 per cent, increasing by 28.5 basis points from bids with a similar tenor also issued on September 7, representing a bid price of €99.2763 per €100 nominal.
During this week, secondary market turnover in Malta Government Treasury bills amounted to €43.51 million, all executed on the On-exchange market of the Malta Stock Exchange.
Yesterday, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 363-day bills maturing on December 22, 2022, and September 20, 2023, respectively.
The report is prepared by the Monetary Operations and Collateral Management Office of the Central Bank of Malta.