Measuring Uncertainty in Monetary Policy Using Implied Volatility and Realized Volatility Staff Working Paper 2013-37 Bo Young Chang, Bruno Feunou We measure uncertainty surrounding the central bank’s future policy rates using implied volatility computed from interest rate option prices and realized volatility computed from intraday prices of interest rate futures. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Monetary and financial indicators, Monetary policy and uncertainty JEL Code(s): E, E4
August 15, 2013 Big Data Analysis: The Next Frontier Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2013 Nii Ayi Armah The formulation of monetary policy at the Bank of Canada relies on the analysis of a broad set of economic information. Greater availability of immediate and detailed information would improve real-time economic decision making. Technological advances have provided an opportunity to exploit “big data” - the vast amount of digital data from business transactions, social media and networked computers. Big data can be a complement to traditional information sources, offering fresh insight for the monitoring of economic activity and inflation. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Monetary and financial indicators JEL Code(s): C, C5, C53, C6, C63, C8, C80
A Financial Conditions Index for the United States Staff Discussion Paper 2009-11 Kimberly Beaton, René Lalonde, Corinne Luu The financial crisis of 2007–09 has highlighted the importance of developments in financial conditions for real economic activity. The authors estimate the effect of current and past shocks to financial variables on U.S. GDP growth by constructing two growthbased financial conditions indexes (FCIs) that measure the contribution to quarterly (annualized) GDP growth from financial conditions. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Monetary and financial indicators, Monetary conditions index, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E4, E44, E47, E5, E51
Indebtedness and the Household Financial Health: An Examination of the Canadian Debt Service Ratio Distribution Staff Working Paper 2008-46 Umar Faruqui The household debt-to-disposable income ratio in Canada increased from 110 per cent in 1999 to 127 per cent in 2007. This increase has raised questions about the ability of households to service their increased debt if faced with a negative economic or socio-economic shock. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial stability, Monetary and financial indicators JEL Code(s): D, D1, D11, D14, D3, D39
September 15, 2008 The Bank of Canada's Senior Loan Officer Survey Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2008 Umar Faruqui, Paul Gilbert, Wendy Kei The Bank of Canada maintains regular contact with financial institutions as part of the information-gathering process that feeds into the larger set of information used to arrive at its monetary policy decision. Since 1999, the Bank has been conducting a quarterly survey of the business-lending practices of major Canadian financial institutions. Analysis of the information collected shows that it is correlated with future growth in both credit and business investment. This article focuses on how the survey is conducted and describes the construction of the summary statistics, highlighting the key statistical relationships in the historical survey data. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Financial institutions, Monetary and financial indicators, Recent economic and financial developments
Short-Run and Long-Run Causality between Monetary Policy Variables and Stock Prices Staff Working Paper 2006-39 Jean-Marie Dufour, David Tessier The authors examine simultaneously the causal links connecting monetary policy variables, real activity, and stock returns. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Monetary and financial indicators JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, C15, C3, C32, C5, C51, C53, E, E5, E52
October 3, 2006 A New Effective Exchange Rate Index for the Canadian Dollar Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2006 Janone Ong An effective exchange rate is a measure of the value of a country's currency vis-à-vis the currencies of its most important trading partners. The Bank of Canada has created a new Canadian-dollar effective exchange rate index (CERI) to replace the C-6 index that it currently uses. The CERI uses multilateral trade weights published by the International Monetary Fund and includes the six currencies of countries or economic zones with the largest share of Canada's international trade. As such, it better reflects the recent changes in Canada's trade profile, including the rise in the importance of China and Mexico and the relative decline in importance of Europe and Japan in Canada's international trade. The author describes the methodology and construction of the new index and reviews the advantages it offers over the C-6, particularly the use of multilateral trade weights, the inclusion of trade in services, and the use of more recent trade data. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Exchange rates, Financial markets, Monetary and financial indicators
June 25, 2005 Changes in the Indicator Properties of Narrow Monetary Aggregates Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2005 Tracy Chan, Ramdane Djoudad, Jackson Loi Although many countries have abandoned monetary targeting in recent decades, monetary aggregates are still useful indicators of future economic activity. Past research has shown that, compared with other monetary aggregates and expressed in real terms, net M1 and gross M1 have traditionally provided superior leading information for output growth. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Monetary aggregates, Monetary and financial indicators
November 24, 2004 Asset Prices and Monetary Policy: A Canadian Perspective on the Issues Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2004 Jack Selody, Carolyn A. Wilkins The issue addressed in this article is the extent to which monetary policy in Canada should respond to asset-price bubbles. The article concludes that maintaining low and stable consumer price inflation is the best contribution that monetary policy can make to promoting economic and financial stability, even when the economy experiences asset-price bubbles. In extreme circumstances—when an asset-price bubble is well identified and likely to have significant costs to the economy when it bursts—monetary policy might better maintain low and stable consumer price inflation by leaning against a particular bubble even though it may mean that inflation deviates temporarily from its target. Such a strategy might reduce the risk that a crash in asset prices could lead to a recession and to inflation markedly below target in the longer run. The circumstances where this strategy is possible will be rare because economists are far from being able to determine consistently and reliably when leaning against a particular bubble is likely to do more harm than good. Housing-price bubbles should be a greater concern for Canadian monetary policy than equity-price bubbles, since rising housing prices are more likely to reflect excessively easy domestic credit conditions than are equity prices, which are largely determined in global markets. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Inflation targets, Monetary and financial indicators, Monetary policy framework
Financial Conditions Indexes for Canada Staff Working Paper 2004-22 Céline Gauthier, Christopher Graham, Ying Liu The authors construct three financial conditions indexes (FCIs) for Canada based on three approaches: an IS-curve-based model, generalized impulse-response functions, and factor analysis. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Monetary and financial indicators, Monetary conditions index JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, E5, E52