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To counter that uncertainty and bolster consumer and business confidence, the Bank of Canada moved aggressively to provide monetary stimulus. Between last September and January 2002, we lowered interest rates by 200 basis points, bringing the total reduction since January 2001 to 375 basis points.

Donald Gow had a great interest in public administration and in budgetary reform in the federal government.1 He was one in a long line of Queen's professors who have focused on various budgetary matters at the federal level.

Canada's economic outlook has improved significantly since the November Monetary Policy Report. Indeed, information on the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of 2002 indicates that the recovery in the Canadian economy began sooner and has been considerably stronger than anticipated.

To counter that uncertainty and bolster consumer and business confidence, the Bank of Canada moved aggressively to provide monetary stimulus. Between last September and January 2002, we lowered interest rates by 200 basis points, bringing the total reduction since January 2001 to 375 basis points.

The level of production in the Canadian economy should return to full capacity in the second half of 2003. We also said that inflation should be at the Bank's 2 per cent target by about the end of next year.

The Bank of Canada wishes to announce that it will implement a securities-lending program to support the liquidity of Government of Canada securities by providing a secondary and temporary source of securities to the market.

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

David Dodge, Governor of the Bank of Canada and Paul Martin, Minister of Finance were joined at the unveiling by Jean Béliveau, former NHL hockey player for the Montréal Canadiens, Kim St. Pierre, member of the gold-medal-winning Canadian Olympic women's hockey team in Salt Lake City, and Myriam Bédard, two-time Olympic gold medallist in the biathlon.

Globalization - the trend towards greater economic integration around the world - has brought important benefits to us all. It has boosted world trade, opened up access to sources of global finance, and facilitated the diffusion of far-reaching technological advances in transportation, communications, and information processing.

Canada's new $5 bank note will be launched Wednesday, 27 March, in Montréal.