Money Market Report for the week ending 16 March
ECB Monetary Operations
On 12 March the European Central Bank announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on 13 March and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1.02bn, €0.13bn 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 14 March 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 $0.08bn, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 1.96%.
During the week under review, participants in the first, third, fifth and seventh operations in the first series of targeted longer-term refinancing operations had the option of terminating or reducing their outstanding amount in these operations before maturity. Accordingly, on 28 March, a total of €0.95bn will be repaid.
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 15 March, maturing on 14 June and 13 September, respectively. Bids of €35m were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €20m, while €35m were also submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €5m. Since €2.5m worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €22.5m, to stand at €236m.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.361%, up by 0.5 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on 8 March, representing a bid price of €100.0913 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was - 0.361%, unchanged from bids with a similar tenor also issued on 8 March, representing a bid price of €100.1828 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 182-day bills maturing on 21 June and 20 September, respectively.