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A consultation document on issues relating to the design and operation of government debt programs for fiscal year 2002-2003 and beyond, prepared jointly by the Department of Finance and the Bank of Canada, is being made public today.

On behalf of the Minister of Finance, the Bank of Canada announced today the operational framework for a pilot bond switch program. The program is designed to support the maintenance of a liquid Government of Canada new issue bond market through the exchange of less liquid outstanding bonds (repurchase bonds) into a benchmark bond (replacement bond).

On 29 March 2001, the Bank of Canada announced an increase in the target for the minimum daily level of the Large Value Transfer System (LVTS) settlement balances from zero to $50 million on a trial basis, effective 2 April 2001.

The Bank of Canada today announced its intention to temporarily add assets to its balance sheet to offset the anticipated seasonal increase in the demand for bank notes. These operations have no monetary policy significance.

The Bank has a commitment to contribute to the economic well-being of Canadians. This means that we must conduct monetary policy so that it fosters sustained solid economic growth.

The Bank of Canada today announced that it is lowering its target for the overnight rate* by one-half of one percentage point to 2 1/4 per cent. The operating band for the overnight rate is correspondingly lowered, and the Bank Rate is now 2 1/2 per cent.

The Bank of Canada today released its semi-annual Monetary Policy Report in which it discusses economic and financial trends in the context of Canada's inflation-control strategy.

Since our May 2001 Report, a further weakening of the world economy and the terrorist acts in the United States have forced a reappraisal of global economic prospects. By midsummer, evidence began to accumulate that the economic slowdown, globally and in Canada, would bedeeper and more protracted than previously anticipated. Thus, in late August, the […]

Right now, all national economies face difficulties - difficulties stemming from the further weakening of the world economy and from the terrorist acts in the United States. As businesses, governments, and individuals in Canada - and around the world - strive to come to terms with the implications of those acts, the main preoccupation is, naturally, with the near term.

As we all strive to come to terms with this tragedy and its implications, it is understandable that our immediate preoccupation is with near-term issues, he said. Nonetheless, it is "critically important that we maintain a sense of perspective - that we step back and look past current developments, focusing also on the longer-term trends in our economy and its potential."