December 4, 2000 Why a Floating Exchange Rate Regime Makes Sense for Canada Remarks Gordon Thiessen Chambre de commerce du Montréal métropolitain Montréal, Quebec One of the issues that has often surfaced over the years is the exchange rate for the Canadian dollar. Indeed, over the past couple of years, it has been a topic of considerable public discussion. Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks
December 1, 2000 Market Views Sought on Issues Relating to the Design and Operation of Government Debt Programs over 2001-02 A consultation document on issues relating to the design and operation of government debt programs over 2001-2002, prepared jointly by the Department of Finance and the Bank of Canada, is being made public today. Content Type(s): Press, Market notices
December 1, 2000 Debt Strategy Consultations 2001—02 Overview The purpose of the consultations is to obtain market views on issues relating to the design and operation of government debt programs over 2001—02, with a focus on the Treasury bill program. The following provides a brief description of the issues to be covered: Context The objectives of debt strategy are to provide stable, […]
December 1, 2000 Background Note on the Treasury Bill Program 1. Introduction This year, the average outstanding stock of treasury bills has been about $85 billion, about half of where it was (almost $165 billion) five years ago. The turnover ratio (the trading volume to the outstanding stock of bills) has declined by even more, to less than half the rate of five years ago. As part […]
November 29, 2000 Government of Canada Pilot Cash Management Bond Buyback Program Launch: Operational Framework On behalf of the Minister of Finance, the Bank of Canada announced today that the government will be proceeding on a pilot basis with a bond buyback program for cash management purposes. The program is designed to reduce the peak levels of government cash balances needed to redeem large upcoming maturities of Government of Canada marketable bonds. Design of the operational framework has been based on consultations with market participants. Content Type(s): Press, Announcements
November 28, 2000 Bank of Canada to Offer Term SPRAs and May Purchase BAs over Year-end The Bank of Canada today announced its intention to temporarily add assets to its balance sheet to offset the anticipated $2 billion to $3 billion seasonal increase in the demand for bank notes. These operations have no monetary policy significance. Content Type(s): Press, Market notices
November 16, 2000 Credit Derivatives Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2000 John Kiff, Ron Morrow Credit derivatives are a useful tool for lenders who want to reduce their exposure to a particular borrower but are unwilling to sell their claims on that borrower. Without actually transferring ownership of the underlying assets, these contracts transfer risk from one counterparty to another. Commercial banks are the major participants in this growing market, using these transactions to diversify their portfolios of loans and other risky assets. The authors examine the size and workings of this relatively new market and discuss the potential of these transactions for distorting existing incentives for risk management and risk monitoring. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial markets, Market structure and pricing
November 16, 2000 Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2000 Cover page Chinese Emergency Money This note measures approximately six by ten inches, and forms part of the National Currency Collection, Bank of Canada. Photography by James Zagon. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review
November 15, 2000 Recent Performance of the Canadian Economy: A Regional View Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2000 David Amirault, Louis-Robert Lafleur This article first outlines the activities of the Bank's regional offices and looks at how regional economic analysis fits into the Bank's decision-making process. The changing role of the regional offices in communications and in information gathering is examined, focusing on the quarterly surveys of industries and associations. The second section reviews, from a regional perspective, economic developments since the Asian crisis and future prospects. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Regional economic developments
November 14, 2000 Conference Summary: Money, Monetary Policy, and Transmission Mechanisms Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2000 Kevin Clinton, Walter Engert This article summarizes the proceedings of a conference hosted by the Bank of Canada in November 1999. Three major themes emerged at the conference. The first concerned uncertainty about the transmission mechanism by which monetary policy affects output and inflation. The second concerned the potential usefulness of monetary aggregates in guiding the economy along a stable non-inflationary growth path. The third was the recent developments in dynamic monetary general-equilibrium models. The work presented suggests that a wide range of models is useful for understanding the various paths by which monetary policy actions might influence the economy. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Economic models, Monetary aggregates, Monetary policy and uncertainty