LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will officially start quantitative easing — effectively printing money to help pull the economy out of recession — today with the Bank of England offering to buy £2 billion of government bonds.

That will only be the first step in a £75 billion asset-buying programme unveiled by the central bank last week, an unprecedented attempt to breathe life into the economy as interest rates have fallen to a record low of 0.5 percent.

Analysts reckon the central bank will have little trouble finding sellers as it will be willing to pay any price for the bonds it wants to buy as its aim is to get money into the economy, not make a profit.

"Paying over the odds was clearly not a concern for them, and if that's the price they have to pay to get things moving, they are fully prepared to do so," said John Wraith, head of sterling rate strategy at RBC Capital Markets, in a note after a meeting with the BoE.

The BoE will purchase the securities via a reverse auction, which means sellers, rather than the buyer, determine the price, and it is relying on investors such as life assurance companies, pension funds and investment funds to part with their bonds.

It is hoping that by buying up the bonds, making yields fall sharply, they will make it cheaper for companies to borrow on the capital markets. Institutions that have sold gilts to the BoE, meanwhile, will have extra money to lend.

The central bank is offering to buy six securities at today's reverse auction with maturities ranging from 5-9 years: the five percent 2014; 4.75 percent 2015; eight percent 2015; four percent 2016; 8.75 percent 2017 and five percent 2018 papers.

Gilt prices have rocketed, sending yields to record lows since the BoE announced its quantitative easing programme last Thursday.

Five-year gilt yields have slipped around 35 basis points, the benchmark ten-year gilt shed more than 60 basis points, falling below three percent for the first time on record earlier this week and the yield on 20-year gilts has plunged 80 basis points since last Thursday.

Economists said turnout at the BoE's gilt buying operations was likely to be strong given the record £146 billion of gilts issuance this year and the strong likelihood it would be even higher in 2009/10.

"The object for the BoE is to put money into the economy, so in that sense, all offers might be filled. They are not so focussed on price because it's not a money-making operation," said Moyeen Islam, strategist at Barclays Capital.

It will hold only one auction this week, but there will be two per week from next week on Mondays and Wednesdays.

The central bank will take non-competitive offers until 12 noon (GMT) on auction days, announcing the amount it will allot to such offers at 1 p.m.

It will then also publish the size open to competitive offers, and will take bids for that operation between 2.15 p.m. and 2.45 p.m. It will announce the results of that operation soon thereafter.

"I don't think there will be a problem getting a cover," said George Buckley, chief UK economist at Deutsche Bank.

"It doesn't matter if yields are low and prices are high. It just means the BoE can get money into the economy quickly without having to buy as many gilts."