ECB monetary operations
On March 23, the European Central Bank announced the seven-day Main Refinancing Operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on March 24, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €17,057.50 million, €6,254.50 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 25, 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 $180 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 182-day bills for settlement value March 26, maturing on June 25 and September 24, respectively.
Bids of €96.57 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €53.92 million, while bids of €43.81 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €7.05 million. Since €62.31 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €1.35 million, standing at €763.89 million.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was 2.045%, increasing by 2.20 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on March 18, representing a bid price of €99.4857 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was 1.959%, increasing by 2.10 basis points from bids with a similar tenor also issued on March 18, representing a bid price of €99.0193 per €100 nominal.
During the week, secondary market turnover in Malta Government Treasury bills amounted to €10,000, which were executed on the On-exchange market of the Malta Stock Exchange.
Yesterday, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 182-day bills maturing on July 2 and October 1, respectively.
The report is prepared by the Monetary Operations and Collateral Management Office of the Central Bank of Malta.
