Money Market Report for the week ending 22 October

ECB Monetary Operations

On 18 October the European Central Bank (ECB) announced the seven-day main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on 19 October and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €63m, €130m less than 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 20 October the ECB conducted the seven-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal

Reserve. This operation attracted bids of $222m, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.32%.

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 21 October, maturing on 18 November and 20 January 2022, respectively. Bids of €75m were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €16m, while bids of €94m were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €20m. Since €18.5m worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €17.5m, to stand at €703m.

The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.463%, decreasing by 1.8 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on 14 October, representing a bid price of €100.0360 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was -0.445%, 3.4 basis points lower from bids with a similar tenor also issued on 14 October, representing a bid price of €100.1126 per €100 nominal.

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

On Tuesday the Treasury invited tenders for 28-day and 182-day bills maturing on 25 November and 28 April 2022 respectively.