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The global economy has continued to expand robustly. However, U.S. economic growth slowed in 2006, with the weakness concentrated in the automotive and housing sectors.

Overall, the outlook for economic growth and inflation in Canada is largely unchanged from that set out in the April Monetary Policy Report.

Two major issues dominate the analysis and policy discussion in this Monetary Policy Report: the nature and extent of the global economic slowdown that began late last year and the consequences of the terrorist attacks in the United States.

At the time of last November’s Monetary Policy Report, two issues dominated the analysis: the global economic slowdown and the fallout from the September terrorist attacks.

Over the past year, Canada’s economy has outperformed the economies of virtually all the other major industrial countries.

The Canadian economy continues to grow at a solid pace, consistent with the Bank’s outlook in the January Monetary Policy Report Update.

The outlook for the global economy has deteriorated significantly since the October Monetary Policy Report. The financial crisis intensified last autumn and spilled over into an already weak global economy, which, in turn, put further strains on the financial system.

Erratum: In Table 1 Interest Rates, the column "Estimated variable mortgage rate" should read 5.65 per cent for 4 December 2007 not 5.25.

The Bank provides live video and audio webcasts of major speeches and press conferences presented by the Governor.

At the Bank of Canada, we have worked hard over the past several years to define our goals and our methods for achieving them. We have continued to strengthen our monetary policy framework, and we have established priorities in all areas of our operations to help us meet our strategic objectives. In 2002, the Bank set out a medium-term plan for the period 2003–05. The plan’s clearly defined policy frameworks and priorities were critical in guiding our analysis and our decisions in 2003, a year in which Canadians across the country were affected by a number of severe and unanticipated events.

In the year just ended, the global economy faced a number of exceptional challenges, reflecting a wide range of economic, financial, and geopolitical risks and uncertainties. These included the fallout from the September 2001 terrorist attacks, corporate accounting scandals, stock market volatility, and developments in the Middle East. Despite this global backdrop, the Canadian economy outperformed virtually all other industrial economies, growing by about 3 1/4 per cent and creating 560,000 jobs, while inflation expectations remained well anchored to the Bank of Canada’s 2 per cent inflation-control target.