Governing Council’s decision to cut interest rates on Friday, 13 March, 2020 took place under unique circumstances. As such, Governing Council is offering this statement of its reasoning from the decision of March 13.
Consistent with the announcement that the Bank stands ready, as a proactive measure, to provide support to the Canada Mortgage Bond (CMB) market, the Bank will purchase CMBs in the secondary market through a competitive tender process.
Under its Standing Liquidity Facility (SLF), the Bank of Canada is prepared to provide liquidity on a daily basis to financial institutions that participate directly in the payments systems operated by Payments Canada. Loans made by the Bank of Canada must be fully collateralized.
The Bank of Canada is committed to supporting the efficient and continuous functioning of financial markets during the current period of uncertainty in which conditions are evolving rapidly.
The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank are today announcing a coordinated action to enhance the provision of liquidity via the standing U.S. dollar liquidity swap line arrangements.
Today, Minister of Finance Bill Morneau, Governor of the Bank of Canada Stephen Poloz, and Superintendent of Financial Institutions Jeremy Rudin outlined a coordinated package of measures being taken by financial sector partners to support the functioning of markets and continued access to financing for Canadian businesses.
The Bank of Canada today lowered its target for the overnight rate by 50 basis points to ¾ percent, effective Monday, March 16, 2020. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1 percent and the deposit rate is ½ percent. This unscheduled rate decision is a proactive measure taken in light of the negative shocks to Canada’s economy arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent sharp drop in oil prices.
In order to support the continuous functioning of financial markets, the Bank of Canada (Bank) is announcing its intention to launch the Bankers’ Acceptance Purchase Facility (BAPF).
Using a two-stage model, we study the determinants of Canadian consumers’ choices of payment method at the point of sale. We estimate consumer preferences and adoption costs for various combinations of payment methods. We analyze how introducing a central bank digital currency would affect the market equilibrium.