Australia starts US$70bil bond-buying programme

Fast moves: A boy runs past the Reserve Bank of Australia in Sydney. The central bank’s desire is to quickly drag the economy out of its first recession in almost 30 years and prevent unemployment from becoming entrenched. — AFP

SYDNEY: Australia’s central bank cut interest rates and announced a new bond-buying programme as it seeks to ensure a rapid recovery across an economy now free of lockdowns.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) lowered its key interest rate, yield-curve target and bank lending facility rate to 0.10% from 0.25%, as forecast by an overwhelming majority of economists. The board also said it would buy A$100bil (US$70.4bil) of government bonds with maturities of around five to ten years over the next six months.