Inflation and prices

• Household Food Inflation in Canada

  Staff Working Paper 2024-33 Olena Kostyshyna, Maude Ouellet

  We study food inflation rates for Canadian households during periods of low and high inflation from 2012Q4 to 2023Q4. Households experienced more varied inflation rates during the recent high inflation. Cumulative food inflation has been 2.2 percentage points higher for lower-income households than for highest-income households since the inflation surge.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E3, E30, E31, L, L8, L81
• August 27, 2024

  How high productivity helps fight inflation

  Higher productivity helps keep prices down and wages up. It gives workers more money to spend and increases the value they get when they spend it. And it allows businesses to weather cost increases without having to raise prices. All together, these factors drive economic growth.

  Content Type(s): Publications, The Economy, Plain and Simple Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Productivity

• Price Discounts and Cheapflation During the Post-Pandemic Inflation Surge

  Staff Working Paper 2024-31 Alberto Cavallo, Oleksiy Kryvtsov

  We study how price variation within a store changes with inflation, and whether households exploit these changes to reduce the burden of inflation. We find that price changes from discounts mitigated the inflation burden while cheapflation exacerbated it.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Inflation: costs and benefits, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E3, E30, E31, L, L8, L81
• July 9, 2024

  What drives up the price of groceries

  

  Weather, energy prices, and labour and import costs all contribute to higher grocery prices

  Content Type(s): Publications, The Economy, Plain and Simple Topic(s): Exchange rates, Inflation and prices, Inflation targets, Labour markets

• The Output-Inflation Trade-off in Canada

  Staff Discussion Paper 2024-7 Stefano Gnocchi, Fanny McKellips, Rodrigo Sekkel, Laure Simon, Yinxi Xie, Yang Zhang

  We explain how the Bank of Canada’s policy models capture the trade-off between output and inflation in Canada. We provide new estimates of the trade-off and contrast them with those in the Bank’s macroeconomic models.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Econometric and statistical methods, Inflation and prices, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E5, E52
• June 19, 2024

  What you pay for at the pump

  

  Kun Mo

  Several factors help set gasoline prices: the costs of crude oil, refining, transporting, retailing and marketing gas, as well as taxes.

  Content Type(s): Publications, The Economy, Plain and Simple Topic(s): Exchange rates, Inflation and prices, Market structure and pricing
• June 13, 2024

  Reviewing our pandemic actions

  Speech summary Sharon Kozicki Canadian Association for Business Economics Ottawa, Ontario

  Deputy Governor Sharon Kozicki talks about the importance of central bank transparency and accountability. She looks at the exceptional monetary policy measures the Bank of Canada used during the COVID-19 pandemic and analyzes their effectiveness.

  Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Speech summaries Topic(s): Central bank research, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Credibility, Economic models, Financial stability, Inflation and prices, Inflation targets, Interest rates, Monetary policy, Monetary policy and uncertainty, Monetary policy communications, Recent economic and financial developments
• June 13, 2024

  Exceptional policies for an exceptional time: From quantitative easing to quantitative tightening

  Remarks Sharon Kozicki Canadian Association of Business Economics Ottawa, Ontario

  Deputy Governor Sharon Kozicki discusses the use of exceptional monetary policy tools during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the Bank’s commitment to transparency and accountability.

  Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks Topic(s): Central bank research, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Credibility, Economic models, Financial stability, Inflation and prices, Inflation targets, Interest rates, Monetary policy, Monetary policy and uncertainty, Monetary policy communications, Recent economic and financial developments

• Sources of pandemic-era inflation in Canada: an application of the Bernanke and Blanchard model

  Staff Analytical Note 2024-13 Fares Bounajm, Jean Garry Junior Roc, Yang Zhang

  We explore the drivers of the surge in inflation in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. This work is part of a joint effort by 11 central banks using the model developed by Bernanke and Blanchard (2023) to identify similarities and differences across economies.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Economic models, Inflation and prices, Labour markets JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E3, E31, E37, E5, E52, E6

• Assessing the Impact of the Bank of Canada’s Government Bond Purchases

  Staff Discussion Paper 2024-5 Chinara Azizova, Jonathan Witmer, Xu Zhang

  In March 2020, the Bank of Canada implemented the Government of Canada Bond Purchase Program, eventually purchasing approximately $340 billion of government bonds. In this paper, we analyze the impact of this program on financial market prices and yields as well as on GDP and inflation.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial system regulation and policies, Inflation and prices, Monetary policy, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58, G, G2, G21, G28