ECB monetary operations
On March 9, the European Central Bank announced the seven-day Main Refinancing Operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on March 10 and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €10,228 million, €961 million more than the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of 2.15%, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On March 11, the ECB conducted a seven-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation attracted bids of $16.40 million, which were allotted in full at a fixed rate of 3.89%.
Domestic Treasury bill market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 273-day bills for settlement value March 12, maturing on June 11 and December 10, respectively.
Bids of €64.65 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €39.65 million, while bids of €45.67 million were submitted for the 273-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €6.67 million. Since €43.64 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €2.68 million, standing at €789.84 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was 1.997%, increasing by 2.60 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on March 5, representing a bid price of €99.4977 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 273-day bill auction was 1.915%, decreasing by 6.60 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on February 5, representing a bid price of €98.5686 per €100 nominal.
During the week, secondary market turnover in Malta Government Treasury Bills amounted to €13,000, which were executed on the On-exchange market of the Malta Stock Exchange.
Yesterday, the Treasury invited tenders for 92-day and 183-day bills maturing on June 18 and September 17, respectively.
This report is prepared by the Monetary Operations and Collateral Management Office of the Central Bank of Malta.
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