Money Market Report for week ending 1 December
ECB Monetary Operations
On 27 November, the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation. The operation was conducted on 28 November and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €4.99bn, €2.02bn 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 29 November, the ECB conducted a three-month, longerterm refinancing operation to be settled as a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment, with the rate fixed at the average rate of the MROs over the life of the operation. The operation attracted bids of €2.88bn from euro area eligible counterparties. The amount was allotted in full in accordance with current ECB policy.
Also on 29 November, 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 29- and 91-day bills for settlement value 30 November, maturing on 29 December and 1 March 2018, respectively. Bids of €45m were submitted for the 29-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €5m, while bids of €55m were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €30m. Since €32m worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €3m, to stand at €192.4m.
The yield from the 29-day bill auction was -0.378%, down by 0.3 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on 23 November, representing a bid price of €100.0305 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.375%, also down by 0.3 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on 16 November, representing a bid price of €100.0949 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- and 181-day bills maturing on 8 March and 6 June 2018, respectively.