Unintended Consequences of the Home Affordable Refinance Program Staff Working Paper 2024-11 Phoebe Tian, Chen Zheng We investigate the unintended consequences of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). Originally designed to help borrowers refinance after the 2008–09 global financial crisis, HARP inadvertently strengthened the market power of incumbent lenders by creating a cost advantage for them. Despite a 2013 policy rectifying this cost advantage, we still find significant welfare losses for borrowers. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial institutions JEL Code(s): G, G2, G21, G5, G51, L, L5, L51
April 10, 2024 Bank of Canada Media Interview – The Globe and Mail Tiff Macklem, Governor of the Bank of Canada, gave an interview to Mark Rendell of The Globe and Mail. Content Type(s): Press, Media advisories
April 10, 2024 Bank of Canada Media Interview – Midi info Nicolas Vincent, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada, gave an interview to Radio-Canada’s Alec Castonguay. The interview will air today on Midi info. Content Type(s): Press, Media advisories
April 10, 2024 Bank of Canada maintains policy rate, continues quantitative tightening Media Relations Ottawa, Ontario The Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at 5%, with the Bank Rate at 5¼% and the deposit rate at 5%. Content Type(s): Press, Press releases
April 10, 2024 Monetary Policy Report – April 2024 Monetary policy is working to reduce inflationary pressures and inflation is coming down, although it will take more time to see if this progress proves durable. The Bank projects that inflation will stay around 3% into the second quarter of 2024, ease below 2.5% in the second half of the year and return to target in 2025. Content Type(s): Publications, Monetary Policy Report
April 10, 2024 Bank of Canada interest rate announcement and release of the Monetary Policy Report On Wednesday, April 10, 2024, the Bank of Canada will announce its decision on the target for the overnight rate. A press release will provide a brief explanation of the decision. The Bank will also publish its quarterly Monetary Policy Report (MPR) at the same time as the rate decision. Content Type(s): Press, Media advisories
April 10, 2024 Monetary Policy Report Press Conference Opening Statement Opening statement Tiff Macklem Governor Tiff Macklem discusses the Monetary Policy Report and the key issues involved in the Governing Council’s deliberations about the policy rate decision. Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Opening statements
Pricing behaviour and inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from consumer prices microdata Staff Analytical Note 2024-6 Olga Bilyk, Mikael Khan, Olena Kostyshyna Using the microdata underlying the Canadian consumer price index, we study how often and by how much firms changed their prices during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that the surge in inflation was mainly associated with retailers raising prices much more often than before. We also find that more recently, corporate price-setting behaviour appears to be approaching pre-pandemic norms. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Firm dynamics, Inflation and prices, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, E, E3, E31, L, L1, L11