Australia central bank to buy up to $2.9 billion of bonds in first round of QE

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's central bank will buy up to A$5 billion ($2.87 billion)(2.51 billion pounds) in local government bonds on Friday, in the first round of its unlimited quantitative easing programme as it looks to cushion the economic shock from the coronavirus pandemic. The Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) operation is aimed at reducing the funding costs for banks so that cheap credit is freely available across the economy that is on the verge of its first recession in nearly three..