November 11, 2008
Staff research, Publications
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November 11, 2008
Conference Summary: International Experience with the Conduct of Monetary Policy under Inflation Targeting
Central bankers from inflation-targeting and non-inflation-targeting countries around the world and several distinguished scholars assembled at the Bank of Canada in July 2008 to review the international experience in some detail. This article highlights topics covered in the special lectures and sessions, including how inflation targeting can manage external shocks, various ways in which monetary policy decisions are taken, and the issues of transparency and communications. It also reports on the discussion in the closing panel, which considered options for the future of inflation targeting. -
The Role of Foreign Exchange Dealers in Providing Overnight Liquidity
This paper illustrates that dealers in foreign exchange markets not only provide intraday liquidity, they are key participants in the provision of overnight liquidity. Dealing institutions receive compensation for holding undesired inventory balances in part from the information they receive in customer trades. -
McCallum Rules, Exchange Rates, and the Term Structure of Interest Rates
McCallum (1994a) proposes a monetary rule where policymakers have some tendency to resist rapid changes in exchange rates to explain the forward premium puzzle. -
Which Bank is the "Central" Bank? An Application of Markov Theory to the Canadian Large Value Transfer System
We use a method similar to Google's PageRank procedure to rank banks in the Canadian Large Value Transfer System (LVTS). Along the way we obtain estimates of the payment processing speeds for the individual banks. -
Financial Constraints and the Cash-Holding Behaviour of Canadian Firms
The proportion of assets held by the average Canadian firm in the form of cash has increased steadily since the early 1990s, and is now roughly twice as large as in 1990. The literature has established that the cash-holding behaviour of firms is highly correlated with financial constraints and firm characteristics. -
The Canadian Dollar and Commodity Prices: Has the Relationship Changed over Time?
The authors examine the impact of the recent run-up in energy and non-energy commodity prices on the Canadian dollar. Using the Bank of Canada's exchange rate equation, they find that the differences between the actual value of the Canadian exchange rate and the simulated values observed in 2007 are not historically large. Still, given that […] -
October 25, 2008
Senior Loan Officer Survey - Third-Quarter 2008
Survey respondents reported widespread tightening in both the pricing and non-pricing dimensions of business-lending conditions. Respondents attributed the tightening of lending conditions mainly to the ongoing turmoil in credit markets and to concerns about the general economic outlook. -
October 23, 2008
Monetary Policy Report – October 2008
Three major interrelated global developments are having a profound impact on the Canadian economy and making the outlook more uncertain than it was at the time of the July Monetary Policy Report Update. -
Are There Canada-U.S. Differences in SME Financing?
Previous surveys of Canadian and U.S. business owners suggest that access to financing in Canada may be more problematic than in the United States. Using the 2003 Survey of Small Business Financing in the United States and the 2004 Survey on Financing of Small and Medium Enterprises in Canada, this paper examines whether this perception can be better quantified.