RBA Owns Nearly 7% of Australian Government Bond Market
- RBA has bought A$51.348 billion in general government bonds
- 78% of purchases have been federal government issues
Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg
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The Reserve Bank of Australia has purchased A$51.348 billion by face value in government securities since March 20, when it started buying bonds to hold down borrowing costs in the economy. Of those, 78.4% are federal government notes. The RBA, which last purchased debt on May 6, now owns close to 7% of the overall Australian government bond market.
Yields on federal and semi-government bonds spiked in mid-March, especially for longer-dated debt, as concerns about the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak roiled global markets. The RBA started buying bonds to hold the three-year government yield near 0.25% -- it closed Tuesday at 0.234% -- and to bring yields down across the economy.