Market notices

The results of today's term PRA operations

Under its Standing Liquidity Facility (SLF), the Bank of Canada is prepared to provide liquidity on a daily basis to financial institutions that participate directly in the payments systems operated by the Canadian Payments Association. Loans made by the Bank of Canada must be fully collateralized.

Today, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank are announcing measures designed to address elevated pressures in short-term funding markets.

A consultation document on issues relating to the design and operation of the government's domestic debt program for the fiscal year 2008/09 and beyond, prepared jointly by the Department of Finance and the Bank of Canada, is being made public today.

Mr. de Rato has been a strong leader and a driving force behind renewing the IMF to meet the global challenges of the 21st century. We at the Bank of Canada are very sorry that he will be leaving. His departure will be a big loss for the international community.

Today, along with the release of the consumer price index (CPI) for May 2007, Statistics Canada converted the official time base reference period for the CPI (the period for which the value 100 is assigned to the index) from 1992 to 2002 . This conversion was previously announced on 23 January 2007.

The Bank of Canada has released The Bank of Canada's Target for the Overnight Interest Rate: Policy Implementation Framework. This document outlines the framework within which the Bank implements monetary policy, including the target for the overnight interest rate, the operating band, open market buyback operations, and settlement balances.

In April 2007, officials from the Department of Finance and the Bank of Canada sought the views of institutional investors, government securities distributors, and other interested parties regarding the auction plan for Real Return Bonds (RRBs). The consultations were undertaken in view of the announcement, in the Debt Management Strategy for 2007/08, of an increase in the issuance of RRBs to slightly over $2 billion.

Effective immediately, the Bank of Canada has updated its list of securities eligible as collateral under the Standing Liquidity Facility to include foreign issuer Canadian dollar securities. Foreign issuer securities are subject to the conditions and margins as identified in the Bank's collateral policy as posted on the Bank of Canada website.

The Department of Finance and the Bank of Canada have updated the "Terms of Participation in Auctions for Government Securities Distributors."