ECB Allots ~EUR18.5bn in MRO

ECB 1-week MRO operations see a jump to ~EUR18.5bn in demand, which is fully allotted by the ECB (the highest amount allotted since ’17, per BBG). See earlier comments for more colour on some of the reasons why it may have happened, but our simple best guess is that the bids were made to facilitate Italian TLTRO repayments tomorrow (smaller Italian banks had a liquidity gap), with some seemingly tapping the MRO as opposed to repo’ing government bond holdings. 75 names accessed the facility. Some light pressure seen on the Euribor strip after the MRO details became apparent, although the move is somwhat insulated given the still elevated levels of liquidity in the Eurosystem (as we suggested would be the case pre-announcement).