Money Market Report for the week ending 31 January
ECB Monetary Operations
On 27 January, the European Central Bank announced a sevenday Main Refinancing Operation. The operation was conducted on 28 January and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1.60bn, €0.64bn more 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 January, 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 €0.55bn from euro area eligible counterparties. The amount was allotted in full in accordance with current ECB policy.
Also, on 29 January, 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 $0.05bn, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 2.07%.
Domestic Treasury Bill Market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 273-day bills for settlement value 30 January, maturing on 30 April and 29 October, respectively. Bids of €51m were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €18m, while bids of €35m were submitted for the 273day bills, with the Treasury accepting €3m. Since there were no maturities, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €21m, standing at €365m.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.437%, unchanged from bids with a similar tenor issued on 23 January, representing a bid price of €100.1106 per
€100 nominal. The yield from the 273-day bill auction was -0.400%, a decrease of 7.6 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on 17 October 2019, representing a bid price of €100.3043 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 and 182day bills maturing on 7 May and 6 August, respectively.