October 7, 1997 Challenges ahead for monetary policy Remarks Gordon Thiessen Vancouver Board of Trade Vancouver, British Columbia Today, I would like to talk about some of the important issues and challenges facing monetary policy in the period ahead and how the Bank of Canada proposes to deal with them. This is not an unusual topic for me since the business of central banking is seldom without challenges. But what a difference the past two years have made to the challenges we face! Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks
October 1, 1997 Bank Rate Raised by ¼ Percentage Point Media Relations Ottawa, Ontario The Bank of Canada today raised the Bank Rate and its operating band for the overnight rate by 1/4 of one percentage point. Content Type(s): Press, Press releases
September 16, 1997 The recent economic record in Canada and the challenges ahead for monetary policy Remarks Gordon Thiessen New England-Canadian Business Council Boston, Massachusetts It has been a little over two years since my last public speech to an audience in the United States. During this time, a lot has happened in terms of economic developments in our two countries. One thing that continues to impress me is the remarkable performance of the U.S. economy, which has achieved six years of steady economic expansion, with high rates of job creation and low inflation. Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks
September 8, 1997 Change in Issuance Pattern of Treasury Bills Beginning with the 16 September Auction Media Relations On 5 August 1997, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions) Jim Peterson announced on behalf of Finance Minister Paul Martin that beginning with the 16 September 1997 auction. Content Type(s): Press, Press releases
A Measure of Underlying Inflation in the United States Staff Working Paper 1997-20 Iris Claus A monetary authority with the primary objective of price stability has to distinguish between temporary price shocks and persistent shocks to the rate of inflation. A measure of underlying inflation, therefore, has an important role to play as a guideline for monetary policy. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation and prices, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31
Les marchés du travail régionaux : une comparaison entre le Canada et les États-Unis Staff Working Paper 1997-17 Mario Lefebvre The purpose of this study is to compare the behaviour of regional labour markets in Canada and the United States. The study shows that the degree of persistence of unemployment is significantly higher in the provinces of Canada than it is in the various American regions. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Labour markets, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24
August 14, 1997 The fiscal impact of privatization in Canada Bank of Canada Review - Summer 1997 Mylène Levac, Philip Wooldridge Privatization—the transfer of activities from the public to the private sector—gained international prominence in the 1980s because of the need to reduce budget deficits and growing concerns about the efficiency of state-owned enterprises and government bureaucracies. This article examines privatization in Canada and its effect on governments' fiscal positions. Privatization has generally been less rapid and extensive in Canada than elsewhere, partly because of the comparatively moderate size of our public sector. Nevertheless, federal, provincial, and municipal governments have increasingly reduced their direct involvement in the Canadian economy by selling Crown corporations, contracting with private firms to deliver public services, and transferring the development of public infrastructure projects to the private sector. The fiscal impact of privatizing Crown corporations varies with such factors as the profitability of the enterprise, the size of the government's initial investment, and past write-downs. In general, when privatizations are part of a broader effort to improve public finances, they can contribute to fiscal consolidation by reducing budgetary requirements and debt levels. When services and infrastructure projects are privatized, it is expected that more efficient private sector management will reduce government expenditures. For example, a private consortium may be better able to manage the financial risks involved in building an infrastructure facility, such as cost overruns or the withdrawal of contractors, than the public sector. The key to raising efficiency and lowering costs, however, is competition, not privatization per se. Therefore, the cost savings arising from the privatization of services or public works depend crucially on the terms of the contract. Overall, when structured to improve economic efficiency, privatization is likely to enhance the economy's performance, thereby producing long-term economic and budgetary gains. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Fiscal policy
August 14, 1997 Bank of Canada Review - Summer 1997 Cover page Samuel Zimmerman and the Zimmerman Bank This note is part of the National Currency Collection, Bank of Canada. Photography by James Zagon. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review
August 13, 1997 The new bank note distribution system Bank of Canada Review - Summer 1997 Gerrit Bilkes In this article, the author outlines the recent changes made to the way Canada's bank notes are distributed. The new system allows financial institutions to exchange notes directly with one another at designated points across the country, rather than through Bank of Canada agencies, as was previously the case. The institutions communicate with the Bank of Canada through a computerized inventory-management system. Two Bank of Canada operations centres monitor note quality and supply new notes to the financial institutions. While the Bank continues to maintain firm control over the distribution of Canada's bank notes, the management of information rather than physical notes will improve efficiency and allow significant cost savings to the Bank of Canada and to the government. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Bank notes, Financial institutions
Measurement of the Output Gap: A Discussion of Recent Research at the Bank of Canada Technical Report No. 79 Pierre St-Amant, Simon van Norden In this paper, we discuss some methodologies for estimating potential output and the output gap that have recently been studied at the Bank of Canada. The assumptions and econometric techniques used by the different methodologies are discussed in turn, and applications to Canadian data are presented. Content Type(s): Staff research, Technical reports Topic(s): Potential output JEL Code(s): D, D2, D24