The Bank of Canada today published its 2021 schedule for policy interest rate announcements and the release of the quarterly Monetary Policy Report. It also reconfirmed the scheduled interest rate announcement dates for the remainder of this year.
Major stock indexes have bounced back from their March 23 trough to about 10 percent below their peaks. However, stocks that are more sensitive to the business cycle have not performed as well during this market rally. This suggests that stock markets are pricing in a slower, shallower economic recovery.
Bond dealers have traditionally kept bonds in an inventory until clients buy them. But now, dealers have another way to access bonds for their clients: the exchange-traded fund. We discuss this new way to manage bond dealing and what it might mean for bond markets.
As previously announced, the Bank of Canada (the Bank) launched on April 1, 2020 a program to purchase Government of Canada securities in the secondary market – the Government Bond Purchase Program (GBPP).
The Bank of Canada’s Securities Repo Operations (SROs) program provides a temporary source of Government of Canada nominal bonds and treasury bills to primary dealers to support liquidity in the securities financing market. The Bank makes a portion of its holdings of these securities available on an overnight basis through daily repurchase operations.
The Bank’s short-term liquidity programs announced since March to improve market functioning are having their intended effect. Conditions in short-term funding markets have improved. In particular, strains in the Government of Canada Treasury Bill market have diminished significantly.
The Bank’s short-term liquidity programs announced since March to improve market functioning are having their intended effect. Conditions in short-term funding markets have improved. In particular, strains in the short-term provincial borrowing market have diminished significantly.