A consultation document on issues relating to the design and operation of government debt programs over 2001-2002, prepared jointly by the Department of Finance and the Bank of Canada, is being made public today.
The Bank of Canada today announced its intention to temporarily add assets to its balance sheet to offset the anticipated $2 billion to $3 billion seasonal increase in the demand for bank notes. These operations have no monetary policy significance.
On July 21, 2000, the Bank of Canada announced that the Bank and the Department of Finance would be seeking the views of market participants on the feasibility of implementing a cash management buyback program and on the possibility of reverting back to March and September maturity dates for two-year bonds.
The Debt Management Strategy 2000-01 (released 23 March 2000) noted that the Bank of Canada and the Department of Finance were assessing the potential for expanding the existing bond buyback program to include cash management purposes.
A discussion paper prepared jointly by the Department of Finance and the Bank of Canada, and being made public today, is proposing changes to the government’s approach to auctioning and investing its Canadian dollar cash balances.