Germany Sells 5-year Government Bonds At a Negative Yield

The German government on Wednesday began selling five-year bonds with a negative yield for the first time. That means investors will pay to lend money to the country for five years. Germany auctioned 3.28 billion euros ($3.72 billion) of bonds due in April 2020 at an average yield of negative 0.08%, according to Germany's debt management office. The sale comes before the European Central Bank in March starts purchasing €60 billion a month worth of assets, aimed a combating stubbornly low inflation and encouraging economic growth in the region.