Money Market Report for the week ending 21 April

ECB Monetary Operations

On 17 April the European Central Bank (ECB) announced the seven-day main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on 18 April and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €1,534.50m, €87m less 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 a daily basis, the ECB conducted the seven-day US dollar funding operations through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. The four operations attracted total bids of $417.80m, at the rate of 5.08%.

Domestic Treasury Bill Market

In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day and 364-day bills for settlement value 20 April, maturing on 20 July and 18 April 2024, respectively. Bids of €248.16m were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €30.61m, while bids of €29.25m were submitted for the 364-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €13.15m. Since €47.30m worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €3.54m, to stand at €782.31m.

The yield from the 91-day bill auction was 2.951%, decreasing by 0.2 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on 13 April, representing a bid price of €99.2596 per €100 nominal. The yield from the 364-day bill auction was 3.041%, decreasing by 8.90 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on 23 March, representing a bid price of €97.0169 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 27 July and 26 October, respectively.