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The global economy has continued to grow at a robust pace since the July Monetary Policy Report Update.

Nonresponse is a considerable challenge in the Retailer Survey on the Cost of Payment Methods conducted by the Bank of Canada in 2015. There are two types of nonresponse in this survey: unit nonresponse, in which a business does not reply to the entire survey, and item nonresponse, in which a business does not respond to particular questions within the survey.

The Bank of Canada Commodity Price Index (BCPI) summarizes the price movements of 23 commodities produced in Canada. Information provided by the BCPI is used in analyzing movements in GDP, industrial producer prices, inflation, and the exchange rate. Effective 15 May 2003, a number of changes will be reflected in the BCPI. To ensure that the index accurately reflects the natural resource sectors of the economy, a number of new components and pricing sources have been incorporated into the BCPI. Weights in the new index will be chained to 1 January 1991 and 1 January 2000 to better reflect contemporary values.

This article compares different measures of real short-term interest rates for Canada over the period from 1956 to 1995. A new measure for the expected real interest rate is constructed using a proxy for inflation expectations that is based on the properties of past inflation. The history of inflation in Canada suggests that the characteristics of inflation have changed considerably over time. Past inflation can be characterized by three different types of behaviour: an environment in which average inflation is low and shocks to inflation have only temporary effects; an environment of moderate inflation with more persistent disturbances; and an environment of drifting inflation in which shocks have permanent effects on the level of inflation. The proxy for inflation expectations uses a statistical model, called a Markov Switching Model, to take account of changes in the behaviour of inflation over time. It is found that uncertainty about the changing characteristics of inflation behaviour leads to uncertainty about estimates of inflation expectations and thus about measures of real interest rates. Target ranges for keeping inflation low should help reduce the uncertainty about inflation behaviour. The behaviour of inflation and interest rates suggests that the credibility of the Bank of Canada's inflation-control objectives is growing. This should reduce inflation uncertainty and lead to lower nominal interest rates over time.

Growth in Canada’s economy is expected to reach 1.4 per cent this year and accelerate to 2.4 per cent in 2017.

Since the last Report, the Canadian economy has advanced broadly in line with expectations.

This document provides an overview of Lynx—Canada’s high-value payment system—and summarizes the system’s design. It explains the development and purpose of Lynx as well as the legal and regulatory framework governing its operation. It also describes the various settlement mechanisms and processes Lynx uses to allow system participants to meet their diverse payment needs while ensuring that risks that arise in the system are managed appropriately.

On 23 January, the Bank reduced the Bank Rate by one-quarter of one percentage point to 5 3/4 per cent.

In December 2005, the Bank of Canada sent those banks that are members of the Canadian Foreign Exchange Committee (CFEC) a questionnaire that focused on the foreign exchange hedging activities of their corporate customers.

Clearing and settlement systems are essential to the smooth functioning of a modern market-based economy such as Canada's. During the past decade, there have been significant efforts in Canada and abroad to improve electronic clearing and settlement systems that handle payments obligations, either uniquely or in conjunction with transactions related to the purchase and sale of a broad range of financial instruments such as debt, equity, foreign exchange, or derivatives. This article examines some of the risks faced by participants and end-users of these systems and reviews the Bank of Canada's role in relation to these systems. For a number of years, the Bank has been involved informally with major clearing and settlement systems with a view to ensuring that systemic risk is adequately controlled. In July 1996, the Payment Clearing and Settlement Act was proclaimed. This Act formalized the role of the Bank in the oversight of clearing and settlement systems for the purpose of controlling systemic risk. The article provides an overview of the Bank's responsibilities. It also describes certain new powers that the Act made available to the Bank that could be exercised in its dealings with clearing and settlement systems.