TOKYO -- The Bank of Japan sold Japanese government bonds with repurchase agreements for the first time since 2008 on Friday, aiming to relieve a shortage brought on by its massive debt purchases and aggravated by a fiscal-year-end demand surge.
The BOJ supplied about 1 trillion yen ($8.99 billion) in government bonds to financial institutions after receiving more than 2 trillion yen in bids. The sales will be executed Monday, and the bonds will be repurchased April 3, after the new fiscal year begins April 1.
