Money Market Report for the week ending 18 August

ECB Monetary Operations

On 11 August, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on 14 August and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €4.81bn, €0.22bn 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 0.00%, in accordance with current ECB policy.

On 16 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 273-day bills for settlement value 17 August, maturing on 16 November and 17 May 2018, respectively. Bids of €50m were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €10m, while bids of €25m were submitted for the 273day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2m. Since €11m worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €1m, to stand at €144.4m.

The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.351%, down by 0.1 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on 10 August, representing a bid price of €100.0888 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 273-day bill auction was - 0.290%, down by 6 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on 30 March, representing a bid price of €100.2204 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 23 November.