BOJ begins long-term JGB purchases under enhanced easing commitment

The Bank of Japan conducted its first government bond buying operation on Monday since announcing new easing steps last week, announcing purchases that involves a large increase in purchases of debt with longer maturities.

The BOJ said on Monday it will buy one trillion yen ($10.3 billion) of Japanese government bonds with maturities of between five years and 10 years, and 200 billion of bonds with maturities exceeding 10 years.

The central bank unleashed the world's most intense burst of monetary stimulus on Thursday, promising to inject about $1.4 trillion into the economy in less than two years, a radical gamble that sent the yen reeling and bond yields to record lows.

Under this scheme the BOJ will buy 7.5 trillion yen of long-term government bonds per month, roughly 70 percent of bonds sold in markets and twice the amount it had been purchasing previously.

($1 = 97.17 Japanese yen)

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Shinichi Saoshiro)