Money Market Report for the week ending 31 March
ECB Monetary Operations
On 27 March the European Central Bank (ECB) announced the seven-day main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on 28 March and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1,710m, €736m more than the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of 3.50%, in accordance with current ECB policy.
On 29 March 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 €743m from euro area eligible counterparties.
On a daily basis, the ECB conducted the seven-day US dollar funding operations through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. The five operations attracted bids of a total of $482.50m, with the rate ranging between 5.05% and 5.07%.
Domestic Treasury Bill Market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 90-day and 182-day bills for settlement value 30 March, maturing on 28 June and 28 September, respectively. Bids of €230.08m were submitted for the 90-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €21.58m, while bids of €37.34m were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €19.24m. Since €49.90m worth of bills ma
tured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €9.08m, standing at €785.59m.
The yield from the 90-day bill auction was 2.888%, increasing by 2.10 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on 23 March, representing a bid price of €99.2832 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was 2.954%, increasing by 3.70 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on 16 March, representing a bid price of €98.5286 per €100 nominal.
During this week, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange.
On Tuesday the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 182-day bills maturing on 6 July and 5 October, respectively.