Aussie debt proves too attractive in world of ugly yields

Sydney

AN Australian sale of sovereign bonds on Friday drew the most bids in 22 years, a boon for government borrowing costs but the bane of the central bank as a global hunger for yield keeps the local currency at uncompetitive heights.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) needs a weaker currency to cushion the country from an export-sapping slide in resource prices. Yet with bond yields across Europe going sub-zero, demand for Australian dollar debt is only getting hotter.