Money Market Report for the week ending 4 August

ECB Monetary Operations

On 31 July, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on 1 August and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €4.27bn, €3.08bn lower 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 0.00%, in accordance with current ECB policy.

On 2 August, 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 $0.04bn, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.66%.

Domestic Treasury Bill Market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91- and 182-day bills for settlement value 3 August, maturing on 2 November and 1 February 2018, respectively. Bids of €40m were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €5m, while bids of €36m were submitted for the 182day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2m. Since €12m worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €5m, to stand at €156.4m.

The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.345%, down by 0.3 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on 27 July, representing a bid price of €100.0873 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was - 0.300%, down by 1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on 22 June, representing a bid price of €100.1519 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 9 November.