ECB Monetary Operations
On Monday, May 25, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The auction was conducted on Tuesday, May 26, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €100.10 billion, €11.71 billion 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, May 27, the ECB conducted a three-month, longer-term refinancing operation to be settled as a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment, with the rate fixed at the average rate of the MROs over the life of the operation. The auction attracted bids of €40.43 billion from euro area eligible counterparties, which amount was allotted in full in accordance with current ECB policy.
Also on Wednesday, May 27, 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 91- day and 181-day bills maturing on August 28 and November 26, 2015, respectively. Bids of €26.00 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €6.00 million, while bids of €40.00 million were submitted for the 181-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €4.00 million. Since €0.50 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €9.50 million, to stand at €204.05 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.004%, down by 0.3 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on May 22, 2015, representing a bid price of 100.001 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 181-day bill auction was 0.00%, unchanged from bids with a similar tenor issued on May 15, 2015, representing a bid price of 100.00 per 100 nominal.
During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.
On Tuesday the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day bills maturing on September 4, 2015.