Bio

Olga Bilyk is a Senior Economist in the Canadian Economic Analysis Department. She received her Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Western Ontario.

Staff analytical notes

Pricing behaviour and inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from consumer prices microdata

Staff Analytical Note 2024-6 Olga Bilyk, Mikael Khan, Olena Kostyshyna
Using the microdata underlying the Canadian consumer price index, we study how often and by how much firms changed their prices during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that the surge in inflation was mainly associated with retailers raising prices much more often than before. We also find that more recently, corporate price-setting behaviour appears to be approaching pre-pandemic norms.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Firm dynamics, Inflation and prices, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, E, E3, E31, L, L1, L11

Markups and inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Staff Analytical Note 2023-8 Olga Bilyk, Timothy Grieder, Mikael Khan
We find that prices and costs for consumer-oriented firms moved roughly one-for-one during the COVID-19 pandemic. This means firms fully passed rising costs through to the prices they charged. However, our results are suggestive, given data limitations and the uncertainty associated with estimating markups.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Firm dynamics, Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): D, D2, D4, E, E2, E3, L, L1

Can the characteristics of new mortgages predict borrowers’ financial stress? Insights from the 2014 oil price decline

Staff Analytical Note 2021-22 Olga Bilyk, Ken Chow, Yang Xu
We study the relationship between characteristics of new mortgages and borrowers’ financial stress in Canada’s energy-intensive regions following the 2014 collapse in oil prices. We find that borrowers with limited home equity were more likely to have difficulty repaying debt.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Econometric and statistical methods, Financial stability, Housing JEL Code(s): C, C2, C25, D, D1, D14, G, G2, G21, G5, G51, R, R2, R21

Update on housing market imbalances and household indebtedness

Staff Analytical Note 2021-4 Mikael Khan, Olga Bilyk, Matthew Ackman
Exceptional strength in the housing market during the pandemic is underpinning Canada’s economic recovery. However, two key vulnerabilities—housing market imbalances and elevated household indebtedness—have intensified.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Credit and credit aggregates, Financial stability, Housing, Recent economic and financial developments, Sectoral balance sheet JEL Code(s): D, D1, D14, D8, D84, E, E5, G, G2, G21, G28, R, R2, R21

Household indebtedness risks in the wake of COVID‑19

Staff Analytical Note 2020-8 Olga Bilyk, Anson T. Y. Ho, Mikael Khan, Geneviève Vallée
COVID-19 presents challenges for indebted households. We assess these by drawing parallels between pandemics and natural disasters. Taking into account the financial health of the household sector when the pandemic began, we run model simulations to illustrate how payment deferrals and the labour market recovery will affect mortgage defaults.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Climate change, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Credit and credit aggregates, Econometric and statistical methods, Financial stability, Fiscal policy, Housing, Recent economic and financial developments, Sectoral balance sheet JEL Code(s): C, C2, C21, D, D1, D12, D14, E, E2, E24, E27, E6, E62, G, G2, G21, G28, R, R2

Reassessing the Growth of HELOCs in Canada Using New Regulatory Data

Staff Analytical Note 2019-14 Leila Al-Mqbali, Olga Bilyk, Stefan Caputo, James Younker
Using new regulatory data on residential secured lending from Canadian banks, we assess the growth rate of home equity lines of credit (HELOCs).
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial institutions, Financial stability, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): D, D1, G, G2, G21, G28

The Impact of Recent Policy Changes on the Canadian Mortgage Market

Staff Analytical Note 2018-35 Olga Bilyk, Maria teNyenhuis
Recent policy changes are having a clear impact on the mortgage market. The number of new, highly indebted borrowers has fallen, and overall mortgage activity has slowed significantly.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial institutions, Interest rates, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): D, D1, E, E4, G, G2, G21, G28

Interest Rate and Renewal Risk for Mortgages

Staff Analytical Note 2018-18 Olga Bilyk, Cameron MacDonald, Brian Peterson
In this note, we explore two types of risk faced by holders of mortgages and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) in the context of rising interest rates: interest rate risk and renewal risk.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial institutions, Interest rates, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): D, D1, E, E4, E5, G, G2, G21, G28

Credit Cards: Disentangling the Dual Use of Borrowing and Spending

Staff Analytical Note 2015-3 Olga Bilyk, Brian Peterson
Over the past 15 years, aggregate credit card balances have been increasing, except for a brief spell in the aftermath of the 2007–09 financial crisis. Determining whether the growing balances are due to increased usage of credit cards as a method of payment or whether they reflect increased short-term borrowing is challenging because aggregate balances are snapshots of charges on credit cards before households make their monthly payments.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial stability

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Bank publications

Financial System Review articles

November 28, 2017

Analysis of Household Vulnerabilities Using Loan-Level Mortgage Data

Financial System Review - November 2017 Olga Bilyk, Alexander Ueberfeldt, Yang Xu
This report examines detailed data on home mortgages to provide a better understanding of the vulnerabilities associated with the mortgage market. The proportion of low-ratio mortgages is growing, particularly in regions with strong house price growth. Moreover, these borrowers exhibit less flexibility to adverse shocks, since they have high debt levels relative to income and have taken mortgages with long amortization periods.
Content Type(s): Publications, Financial System Review articles Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Recent economic and financial developments, Sectoral balance sheet JEL Code(s): D, D1, D12, D14, G, G2, G21, G28

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Journal publications

Refereed journals