Speeches and appearances

Last Thursday, we released our April Monetary Policy Report. In the report, we said that the global economy has been unfolding largely as expected, and the outlook for the Canadian economy is essentially unchanged from that in January's Monetary Policy Report Update.

The Bank of Canada has been examining the issue of how the Canadian economy adjusts movements in the exchange rate for a long time. Canada's economy is very open, so we always need to understand how exchange rate movements are affecting real economic activity and, in turn, what the implications are for monetary policy.

The Bank expects Canada's economy to grow by about 2 1/2 per cent in 2005 and 3 1/4 per cent in 2006, with growth this year and next coming primarily from strength in domestic demand. To continue to support aggregate demand, we decided to leave the target for the overnight rate unchanged at 2.5 per cent on 12 April.

Productivity plays a critical role when it comes to our national standard of living. Productivity growth is the main element that contributes to continued improvements in real incomes and overall prosperity. Rising productivity lets businesses pay higher wages, while keeping costs down, employment high, and profits coming in. That's why economists like me spend a lot of time thinking about ways to improve the productivity of our economy.

The invitation is timely, given that the Bank of Canada's inflation-targeting agreement with the Canadian government is up for renewal next year. At the Bank, we are always reflecting on our framework, deciding what works well and what we can improve. Against that backdrop, we have watched with interest the debate taking place here in the United States - inside and outside the Federal Reserve - about whether that institution should join the ranks of inflation-targeting central banks.