Mr. de Rato has been a strong leader and a driving force behind renewing the IMF to meet the global challenges of the 21st century. We at the Bank of Canada are very sorry that he will be leaving. His departure will be a big loss for the international community.
The principal mission of the Bank of Canada is the formulation and implementation of Canada's national monetary policy to promote the economic and financial welfare of the country.
Now, Manitoba – right in the middle of our vast country – might seem an odd place to talk about globalization. But this province, like the rest of Canada, is very much affected by global economic forces.
Today, along with the release of the consumer price index (CPI) for May 2007, Statistics Canada converted the official time base reference period for the CPI (the period for which the value 100 is assigned to the index) from 1992 to 2002 . This conversion was previously announced on 23 January 2007.
Over the years, we at the Bank of Canada have learned that the best contribution that monetary policy can make to the economic welfare of Canadians is to keep inflation low, stable, and predictable. We try to keep the annual increase in consumer price inflation at 2 per cent, which is the middle of a 1 to 3 per cent inflation-control range.
Demographic trends and the effect of Canada's aging population have begun to have an impact on the Canadian monetary policy, Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge said today.
For 85 years, the Council has promoted the idea that the United States should take a leading role in addressing global challenges. And it has done so consistently through the years, even during times when isolationism was more fashionable.