Money Market Report for the week ending 23 October

ECB Monetary Operations

On 19 October, the European Central Bank announced a seven-day Main Refinancing Operation. The operation was conducted on 20 October and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1.01bn, almost unchanged from 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 21 October, the ECB conducted the seven-day and 84-day US dollar funding operations through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. The seven-day USD operation attracted bids of $0.04bn, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.34%. The 84-day USD operation attracted bids of $0.01bn, also allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.33%.

Domestic Treasury Bill Market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 28-day bills and 91-day bills for settlement value 22 October, maturing on 19 November and 21 January 2021, respectively. Bids of €100m were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €15m, while bids of €110m were submitted for the 91day bills, with the Treasury accepting €5m. Since €30m worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €10m, to stand at €707.5m.

The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.486%, a decrease of 0.1 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on 15 October, representing a bid price of €100.0378 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.487%, a decrease of 0.3 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on 8 October, representing a bid price of €100.1233 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-day bills and 91-day bills maturing on 26 November and 28 January 2021, respectively.