ECB Monetary Operations

On Monday, 16 February, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly

main refinancing operation (MRO). The auction was conducted on Tuesday, 17 February

and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €122.11bn, €17.58bn higher 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 0.05%, in accordance with current ECB policy.

On Wednesday, 18 February, the ECB conducted a seven-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation was carried out at a fixed rate of 0.62% and did not attract bids from euro area eligible counterparties.

 

Domestic Treasury Bill Market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 28- and 182-day bills maturing on 20 March and 21 August, respectively. Bids of €16m were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2m, while bids of €15m were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €8m. Since €15.10m worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €5.10m to stand at €209.94m.

The yield from the 28-day bill auction was 0.010%, that is, 1.0 basis point lower than on bills with a similar tenor issued on 30 January, representing a bid price of 99.9992 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was 0.032%, that is, 0.5 basis point lower than on bills with a similar tenor issued on 13 February, representing a bid price of 99.9838 per 100 nominal.

During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange. This week the Treasury will invite tenders for 91- and 182-day bills maturing on 29 May and 28 August, respectively.