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Effective 15 May 2003 the following changes will be made to the Bank of Canada Commodity Price Index (BCPI).

The last time I testified before this committee was in the spring of 2002, because we were unable to arrange our regular meeting last fall. You will recall that following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, we quickly and aggressively cut our policy interest rate to shore up confidence and support domestic demand. By last spring, evidence had already started to build that demand was growing faster than the economy's production capacity.

The Board of Directors of the Bank of Canada today announced the appointment of David Longworth and Mark Carney as Deputy Governors of the Bank.

Last week, we released our spring Monetary Policy Report, in which we discuss economic and financial trends in the context of Canada's inflation-control strategy. I last testified before this committee in October, following the release of our autumn Monetary Policy Report.

Since our October 2002 Monetary Policy Report, both core and total CPI inflation have been well above the 2 per cent inflation target. In this environment, inflation expectations have edged up.

Since the October 2002 Monetary Policy Report, both core and total CPI inflation have been well above the 2 per cent inflation target.

The Bank of Canada today announced that it is raising its target for the overnight rate by one-quarter of one percentage point to 3 1/4 per cent.

The Board of Directors of the Bank of Canada today announced that, pursuant to Section 6 of the Bank of Canada Act, Paul Jenkins has been appointed Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank for a seven-year term.

In its Debt Management Strategy 2003/04, the government announced that the auction time for treasury bills would be moved to 10:30 a.m., on a trial basis, starting 22 April 2003.

It has not been an easy year. All of you have been running companies and making decisions under very uncertain conditions. You have had to deal with corporate and accounting issues. Markets have been volatile. And geopolitical events have shaken confidence.