Money Market Report for the week ending 20 October

ECB Monetary Operations

On 16 October, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on 17 October and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €3.82bn, €17.52bn 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 18 October, 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 Market Treasury Bill

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 28- and 182-day bills for settlement value 19 October, maturing on 16 November and 19 April 2018, respectively. Bids of €40m were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €10m, while bids of €70m were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €18m. Since €10m worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €18m, to stand at €121.4m.

The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.379%, down by 0.7 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on 27 July, representing a bid price of €100.0295 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.325%, down by 2.5 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on 3 August, representing a bid price of €100.1646 per €100 nominal.

During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.

On Tuesday the Treasury invited tenders for 28- and 91-day bills maturing on 23 November and 25 January 2018, respectively.