Understanding Firms’ Inflation Expectations Using the Bank of Canada’s Business Outlook Survey Staff Working Paper 2016-7 Simon Richards, Matthieu Verstraete Inflation expectations are a key determinant of actual and future inflation and thus matter for the conduct of monetary policy. We study how firms form their inflation expectations using quarterly firm-level data from the Bank of Canada’s Business Outlook Survey, spanning the 2001 to 2015 period. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Credibility, Econometric and statistical methods, Firm dynamics, Inflation and prices, Inflation targets, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): C, C1, C2, C25, D, D2, D21, D8, D84, E, E3, E31, E5, E52, E58
Estimating Canada’s Effective Lower Bound Staff Analytical Note 2015-2 Jonathan Witmer, Jing Yang In 2009, the Bank of Canada set its effective lower bound (ELB) at 25 basis points (bps). Given the recent experience of Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and the euro area with negative interest rates, we examine the economics of negative interest rates and suggest that cash storage costs are the source of a negative lower bound on interest rates. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy implementation JEL Code(s): D, D5, D53, E, E4, E41, E43, E5, E58
On the Essentiality of E-Money Staff Working Paper 2015-43 Jonathan Chiu, Tsz-Nga Wong Recent years have witnessed the advances of e-money systems such as Bitcoin, PayPal and various forms of stored-value cards. This paper adopts a mechanism design approach to identify some essential features of different payment systems that implement and improve the constrained optimal resource allocation. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Bank notes, Digital currencies and fintech, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E58, L, L5, L51
November 19, 2015 Recent Enhancements to the Management of Canada’s Foreign Exchange Reserves Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2015 Mervin Merkowsky, Eric Wolfe As the size and complexity of the foreign exchange reserves have grown over the years, enhancements to the management framework needed to keep pace. This is a common theme for most reserve managers around the world. In Canada, the enhancements focused on governance, portfolio management, risk measurement and risk management. This article briefly describes these enhancements, why they were implemented and some of the lessons learned along the way. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Foreign reserves management, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): E, E5, E58, F, F3, F31, G, G1
Reputational Risk Management in Central Banks Staff Discussion Paper 2015-16 Jill Vardy This paper discusses reputational risk in the context of central banking and explains why it matters to central banks. It begins with a general discussion of reputational risk within the broader framework of risk management. Content Type(s): Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Credibility, International topics, Monetary policy implementation JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58
Forward Guidance at the Effective Lower Bound: International Experience Staff Discussion Paper 2015-15 Karyne B. Charbonneau, Lori Rennison Forward guidance is one of the policy tools that a central bank can implement if it seeks to provide additional monetary stimulus when it is operating at the effective lower bound (ELB) on interest rates. It became more widely used during and after the global financial crisis. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Monetary policy and uncertainty, Monetary policy communications, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy implementation, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, E5, E52, E58, E6
Quantitative Easing as a Policy Tool Under the Effective Lower Bound Staff Discussion Paper 2015-14 Abeer Reza, Eric Santor, Lena Suchanek This paper summarizes the international evidence on the performance of quantitative easing (QE) as a monetary policy tool when conventional policy rates are constrained by the effective lower bound (ELB). A large body of evidence suggests that expanding the central bank’s balance sheet through large-scale asset purchases can provide effective stimulus under the ELB. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Central bank research, International topics, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58, E6, E61, E65, N, N1, N10
The International Experience with Negative Policy Rates Staff Discussion Paper 2015-13 Harriet Jackson A key issue in the renewal of the inflation-control agreement is the question of the appropriate level of the inflation target. Many observers have raised concerns that with the reduction in the neutral rate, and the experience of the recent financial crisis, the effective lower bound (ELB) is more likely to be binding in the future if inflation targets remain at 2 per cent. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Financial markets, International topics, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58, E6, E65
The Optimal Level of the Inflation Target: A Selective Review of the Literature and Outstanding Issues Staff Discussion Paper 2015-8 Oleksiy Kryvtsov, Rhys R. Mendes Bank of Canada research done prior to the most recent renewal of the inflation-control agreement in 2011 concluded that the benefits associated with a target below 2 per cent were insufficient to justify the increased risk of being constrained by the zero lower bound (ZLB) on nominal interest rates. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Inflation targets, Inflation: costs and benefits, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58
On the Nexus of Monetary Policy and Financial Stability: Recent Developments and Research Staff Discussion Paper 2015-7 Oleksiy Kryvtsov, Miguel Molico, Ben Tomlin Because financial and macroeconomic conditions are tightly interconnected, financial stability considerations are an important element of any monetary policy framework. Yet, the circumstances under which it would be appropriate for the Bank to use monetary policy to lean against financial risks need to be more fully specified (Côté 2014). Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Financial stability, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E0, E4, E44, E5, E52, E58, G, G1, G18