As reported by the Times of Malta the ECB announced its weekly main refinancing operations (MRO) on Monday 11th May. The auction that happened on Tuesday 12th May accepted bids from eligible counter-parties in the Eurozone and attracted €90.62 billion, €4.61 billion lower than the previous week.
The amount was allotted in full, in line with ECB policy, at the same fixed rate of the prevailing MRO of 0.05 per cent. On Wednesday 13th May, the ECB conducted another funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve, at the fixed rate of 0.63 per cent. This did not attract any bids from eligible counterparties within the eurozone.
With regards to the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury called for tenders for 91-day and 181-day bills maturing on 14th August and 12th November respectively. For the 91-day bills, the Treasury accepted accepted €1.5 million out of the €15.5 million submitted and €3.5 million out of the €15 million for the 181-day bills.
The current outstanding balance of the Treasury is €191.55 million, after €6 million worth of bills matured over the week and the outstanding balance decreased by €1 million.
The yield from the 91-day auction remained the same since the similar bids issued on April 30 – 0 per cent, representing a bid price of 100 per 100 nominal. The same applies for the yield from the 181-day bill auction, standing at 0 per cent, unchanged from the similar bids issued on the 8th of May, representing a bid price of 100 per 100 nominal.
Today, the Treasury will invite tenders for 91-day bills maturing on the 21st August. Meanwhile, no trading took place on the Malta Stock Exchange during the week being reviewed.
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