Bank of Valletta announced yesterday that it was the first Maltese bank to transact with the European Central Bank (ECB).

“The transaction which amounted to e28 million was effected by the Bank’s Financial Markets and Investments Division on the 3 January during one of the first ECB fine tuning operations made following Malta’s adoption of the Euro as our national currency,” said BOV’s chief officer responsible for financial markets and investment Charles Borg.

In its effort to steer liquidity towards more balanced conditions needed to align short term interest rates with its main refinancing rate, the ECB yesterday conducted a quick tender operation in which it absorbed almost e200 billion at a fixed rate of four per cent.

Mr Borg stated that Bank of Valletta was proud to be the first Maltese bank to participate in the monetary operations of the European Central Bank. “Indeed, the fact that we were the first Maltese Bank to participate in a transaction with the ECB confirms BOV’s leading position in our market,” added Mr Borg.

“This important milestone marks the start of a new reality and the Bank is going to continue to be active on international markets and particularly in dealing with the ECB,” concluded Mr Borg.