Forex

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - The European Central Bank called for tenders for a 7-day main refinancing operation expiring on March 19.

A minimum bid rate of 4.00 pct applies at the refi.

The ECB said it calculates it would need to allot 183.0 bln eur at the refi for banks to be able to fulfil their minimum reserve requirements over the next week.

This 'benchmark' allotment figure takes account of banks' current account holdings with national central banks and liquidity needs arising from autonomous factors such as tax payments.

The ECB may also take account of other factors in its allotment decision, which will be announced tomorrow.

Bids with the highest interest rates will be satisfied first and bids with successively lower interest rates will be accepted until the total liquidity to be allotted is exhausted.

At the last main refi on March 4, the weighted average interest rate on accepted bids was 4.14 pct. The marginal rate -- the lowest rate at which bids were accepted -- was 4.11 pct.