Britain’s revived programme of mass bond-buying accelerated a fall in global bond yields yesterday in the latest sign of how central bank policy has intensified a worldwide collapse in borrowing costs this year.
The Bank of England this month announced a new £70bn asset purchase programme designed to address fears of an economic slowdown after Britain voted to leave the EU, joining the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan to become the third major central bank engaged in quantitative easing.
The speed and extent of market reaction to the BoE’s monetary easing programme indicated a change among investors who previously doubted the ability of central banks to further suppress bond yields, said Steven Major, head of fixed income research at HSBC.