Money Market Report for the week ending 27 January
On 23 January, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced the seven-day main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on 24 January and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1.24bn, €0.39bn more than the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of 2.50%, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On 25 January the ECB conducted the three-month, longer-term refinancing operation to be settled as a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment, with the rate fixed at the average MRO rate over the life of the operation. The operation attracted bids of €0.78bn from euro area eligible counterparties.
Also on 25 January, 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 $0.43bn, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 4.58%.
Domestic Treasury Bill Market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 182-day bills for settlement value 26 January, maturing on 27 April and 27 July, respectively. Bids of €211.40m were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €44.40m, while bids of €21.23m were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €14.90m. Since €63.70m worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treas
ury bills decreased by €4.40m, to stand at €869.15m.
The yield from the 91-day bill auction was 2.477%, increasing by 4.10 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on 19 January 19, representing a bid price of €99.3778 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was 2.672%, decreasing by 0.90 basis point from bids with a similar tenor also issued on 19 January, representing a bid price of €98.6672 per €100 nominal.
During this week, secondary market turnover in Malta Government Treasury Bills amounted to €2m, all executed on the Off-exchange market of the Malta Stock Exchange.
On Tuesday the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 182-day bills maturing on 4 May and 3 August, respectively.