ECB Monetary Operations
On Monday, 18 May, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The auction was conducted on Tuesday, 19 May, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €88.40bn, €2.22bn lower 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, 20 May, 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 0.63% 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 91-day bills maturing on 21 August. Bids of €30m were submitted, with the Treasury accepting €3m. Since no bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €3m, to stand at €194.55m.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.001%, down by 0.1 basis point from the bids with a similar tenor issued on 15 May, representing a bid price of 100.0003 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 181-day bills maturing on 28 August and 26 November, respectively.