G12 - Asset Pricing; Trading volume; Bond Interest Rates

• Are Hedge Funds a Hedge for Increasing Government Debt Issuance?

  Staff Discussion Paper 2025-7 Adam Epp, Jeffrey Gao

  This paper studies the rapid increase since 2019 of Government of Canada (GoC) debt issuance alongside greater hedge fund participation at GoC bond auctions. We find a systematic relationship between GoC debt stock and hedge fund bidding shares at auction.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Debt management, Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial stability JEL Code(s): D, D4, D44, G, G1, G12, G2, G23, H, H6, H63

• Estimating the inflation risk premium

  Staff Analytical Note 2025-9 Bruno Feunou, Gitanjali Kumar

  Is there a risk of de-anchoring of inflation expectations in the near term? We estimate the inflation risk premium using traditional asset pricing models to answer this question. The risk of de-anchoring is elevated compared with the period before the COVID-19 pandemic and is higher in the United States than in Canada.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Asset pricing, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C2, C22, C5, C58, G, G1, G12

• Crisis facilities as a source of public information

  Staff Analytical Note 2025-7 Lerby Ergun

  During the COVID-19 financial market crisis, central banks introduced programs to support liquidity in important core funding markets. As well as acting as a backstop to market prices, these programs produce useful trading data on prevailing market conditions. When summary information from this data is shared publicly, it can help market participants understand current conditions and aid the recovery of market functioning.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial markets, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): C, C5, C58, D, D5, D53, D8, D83, G, G1, G12, G14

• Exploring the drivers of the real term premium in Canada

  Staff Analytical Note 2025-3 Zabi Tarshi, Gitanjali Kumar

  Changes in the term premium can reflect uncertainty about inflation, growth and monetary policy. Understanding the key factors that influence the term premium is important when central banks make decisions about monetary policy. In this paper, we derive the real term premium from the nominal term premium in Canada.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial markets, Interest rates, Monetary policy and uncertainty JEL Code(s): C, C5, C58, E, E4, E43, E47, G, G1, G12

• Monetary policy, interest rates and the Canadian dollar

  Staff Analytical Note 2025-2 Jean-Sébastien Fontaine, Ingomar Krohn, James Kyeong, Rishi Vala, Konrad Zmitrowicz

  Changes in domestic interest rates affect the value of the Canadian dollar less than changes in the risk premium do. These variations often occur when a broad shift in risk sentiment occurs in global markets. Ultimately, the value of the currency reflects long-term, slow-moving features of the economies.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Asset pricing, Econometric and statistical methods, Exchange rates, Interest rates, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, F, F3, F31, G, G1, G12

• How foreign central banks can affect liquidity in the Government of Canada bond market

  Staff Analytical Note 2024-26 Patrick Aldridge, Jabir Sandhu, Sofia Tchamova

  We find that foreign central banks own a large share of Government of Canada (GoC) bonds and tend to hold their positions for longer than other types of asset managers. This buy-and-hold behaviour could offer benefits. For example, foreign central banks may be less likely than other asset managers to sell bonds and add to strains on market liquidity in periods of turmoil. However, foreign central banks’ buy-and-hold behaviour combined with their minimal lending of GoC bonds in securities-financing markets, as observed in our available data, can potentially lower liquidity because fewer GoC bonds are available for others to transact in secondary markets. Indeed, we find that higher levels of foreign central banks’ GoC bond holdings are related to lower liquidity.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Exchange rates, Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial stability, Foreign reserves management, International financial markets, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): E, E5, E58, F, F3, F30, F31, G, G0, G01, G1, G11, G12, G15, G2, G23

• Estimating the Portfolio-Balance Effects of the Bank of Canada’s Government of Canada Bond Purchase Program

  Staff Working Paper 2024-34 Antonio Diez de los Rios

  Using a novel dynamic portfolio balance model of the yield curve for Government of Canada bonds, I find that the Bank of Canada’s Government of Canada Bond Purchase Program reduced Canadian 10-year and 5-year zero-coupon yields by 84 and 52 basis points, respectively.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Asset pricing, Central bank research, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Interest rates, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, E5, E52, G, G1, G12, H, H6, H63

• Evaluating the portfolio balance effects of the Government of Canada Bond Purchase Program on the Canadian yield curve

  Staff Analytical Note 2024-22 Antonio Diez de los Rios

  The Bank of Canada’s Government of Canada Bond Purchase Program, launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, lowered the weighted average maturity of the Government of Canada’s debt by approximately 1.4 years. This in turn reduced Canadian 10-year and 5-year zero-coupon yields by 84 and 52 basis points, respectively.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Asset pricing, Central bank research, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Interest rates, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, E5, E52, G, G1, G12, H, H6, H63

• CORRA: Explaining the rise in volumes and resulting upward pressure

  Staff Analytical Note 2024-21 Boran Plong, Neil Maru

  On May 27, 2024, the settlement period for trading GoC bonds in the secondary market in Canada moved from two days to one. This shortened time for settling secondary cash bond trades caused CORRA volumes to rise significantly, and they have remained elevated since. This combined with the skew in demand for funding has pressured CORRA higher. We find no indications that any other factors are contributing to the most recent pressures on CORRA.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Financial markets, Interest rates, Monetary policy implementation JEL Code(s): D, D4, D5, D53, E, E4, E43, E44, E5, E52, G, G1, G12

• Foreign exchange risk premiums and global currency factors

  Staff Analytical Note 2024-20 Ingomar Krohn, Mariel Yacolca Maguiña

  Global currency risk factors continue to explain a large share of the variation in the Canadian dollar during the period following the 2008–09 global financial crisis. We show that they are also systematically important for risk premiums, and only in recent months has the role of idiosyncratic country-specific risks grown.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Asset pricing, Exchange rates, International financial markets JEL Code(s): F, F3, F31, G, G1, G12