Interest rates

• An Empirical Analysis of the Canadian Term Structure of Zero-Coupon Interest Rates

  Staff Working Paper 2004-48 David Bolder, Adam Metzler, Grahame Johnson

  Zero-coupon interest rates are the fundamental building block of fixed-income mathematics, and as such have an extensive number of applications in both finance and economics.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial markets, Interest rates JEL Code(s): C, C0, C6, E, E4, G, G1
• November 23, 2004

  Real Return Bonds: Monetary Policy Credibility and Short-Term Inflation Forecasting

  Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2004 Christopher Reid, Frédéric Dion, Ian Christensen

  The break-even inflation rate (BEIR) is calculated by comparing the yields on conventional and Real Return Bonds. Defined as the average rate of inflation that equates the expected returns on these two bonds, the BEIR has the potential to contain useful information about long-run inflation expectations. Yet the BEIR has been higher, on average, and more variable than survey measures of inflation expectations, which may be explained by the effects of premiums and distortions embedded in the BEIR. Because of the difficulty in accounting for these distortions, the BEIR should not be given a large weight as a measure of long-run inflation expectations at this time. However, as the Real Return Bond market continues to develop, the BEIR should become a more useful indicator of inflation expectations. At present, it demonstrates no clear advantage over survey measures and even past inflation rates in forecasting near-term inflation.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Interest rates, Market structure and pricing

• Real Return Bonds, Inflation Expectations, and the Break-Even Inflation Rate

  Staff Working Paper 2004-43 Ian Christensen, Christopher Reid, Frédéric Dion

  According to the Fisher hypothesis, the gap between Canadian nominal and Real Return Bond yields (or break-even inflation rate) should be a good measure of inflation expectations.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Interest rates, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E4, E43
• August 24, 2004

  The Efficiency of Canadian Capital Markets: Some Bank of Canada Research

  Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2004 Scott Hendry, Michael R. King

  Capital markets and their related financial instruments make an important contribution to the welfare of Canadians. The Bank of Canada is interested in the efficient functioning of capital markets through each of its responsibilities for monetary policy, the financial system, and funds management. Hendry and King highlight the key findings of Bank research published over the past year that addresses capital market efficiency and summarize lessons that have been learned. The research conducted thus far suggests that Canadian capital markets are efficient for a capital market of Canada's size but are less diverse than the U.S. capital markets, indicating that there is room for improvement in certain areas.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Financial markets, Financial services, Interest rates, Market structure and pricing

• Convergence of Government Bond Yields in the Euro Zone: The Role of Policy Harmonization

  Staff Working Paper 2004-23 Denise Côté, Christopher Graham

  Since the early 1980s, long-term government bond yields in the euro zone have declined, in line with those in other industrialized countries.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Interest rates, International topics JEL Code(s): C, C2, C23, E, E4, E43, E44, F, F3, F36

• Estimating Policy-Neutral Interest Rates for Canada Using a Dynamic Stochastic General-Equilibrium Framework

  Staff Working Paper 2004-9 Jean-Paul Lam, Greg Tkacz

  In an era when the primary policy instrument is the level of the short-term interest rate, a comparison of that rate with some equilibrium rate can be a useful guide for policy and a convenient method to measure the stance of monetary policy.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Interest rates JEL Code(s): C, C3, C32, E, E3, E37