News

Canada's economic outlook has improved significantly since the November Monetary Policy Report. Indeed, information on the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of 2002 indicates that the recovery in the Canadian economy began sooner and has been considerably stronger than anticipated.

To counter that uncertainty and bolster consumer and business confidence, the Bank of Canada moved aggressively to provide monetary stimulus. Between last September and January 2002, we lowered interest rates by 200 basis points, bringing the total reduction since January 2001 to 375 basis points.

The level of production in the Canadian economy should return to full capacity in the second half of 2003. We also said that inflation should be at the Bank's 2 per cent target by about the end of next year.

The Bank of Canada today announced that it is raising its target for the overnight rate by one-quarter of one percentage point to 2 1/4 per cent. The operating band for the overnight rate is correspondingly increased, and the Bank Rate is now 2 1/2 per cent.

David Dodge, Governor of the Bank of Canada and Paul Martin, Minister of Finance were joined at the unveiling by Jean Béliveau, former NHL hockey player for the Montréal Canadiens, Kim St. Pierre, member of the gold-medal-winning Canadian Olympic women's hockey team in Salt Lake City, and Myriam Bédard, two-time Olympic gold medallist in the biathlon.