BOK purchases 2 tln won worth of state bonds

SEOUL, March 9 (Yonhap) -- The Bank of Korea (BOK) on Tuesday purchased 2 trillion won (US$1.76 billion) worth of government bonds as part of its market-stabilizing efforts amid the coronavirus crisis.

According to an announcement posted on its website, an auction of the first batch of BOK's 7 trillion won bond purchase program within the first half was closed after attracting bids of more than 4.2 trillion won.

The bank bought three-year government bonds at 1.17 trillion won, five-year Treasurys at 140 billion won and 10-year bonds at 690 billion won.

Last month, BOK announced its bond-buying plan for the purpose of market stability, while South Korea has increased sales of state debts to cushion the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol earlier said the BOK would "actively" deal with its purchase of government bonds.

Despite the purchase, the local bond market remained volatile.

The return on 10-year Treasurys came to 2.034 percent Tuesday, up 0.6 basis point from the previous session. On the previous day, the yield topped 2 percent for the first time since March 2019.

The yield on five-year state bonds rose 9.5 basis points to 1.592 percent on Tuesday.

brk@yna.co.kr
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