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The federal government and the Bank of Canada have been committed for some time to achieving and maintaining price stability as a way to foster a rising standard of living for all Canadians. To support this objective, the inflation-control target range of 1 to 3 per cent was recently extended through to the end of 2001. By then, the government and the Bank plan to announce a long-run target for monetary policy. In this article, the authors provide an overview of the most recent empirical evidence on the benefits of lower inflation. They draw on an extensive earlier survey and on work presented at two recent conferences on price stability hosted by the Bank of Canada. They find that, when inflation and tax interactions are taken into account, there are large benefits to lowering inflation. When these benefits are compared with the transitional costs associated with lowering inflation, significant positive benefits remain. However, the authors note that the extension of the inflation-control targets to the end of 2001 allows further research to ensure an operational definition of price stability that will help Canadians achieve a high standard of living.

Board of Directors of the Bank of Canada today announced the appointment of Jean Boivin as Deputy Governor and member of the Governing Council of the Bank effective 1 April.

Rapid growth in emerging-market economies is driving up demand for commodities, and that has pushed up world prices for oil and many non-energy commodities. Meanwhile, productivity improvements in some countries and a competitive world environment are lowering the prices for some consumer goods, communications services, and computer equipment.

As you know, one of the events and themes commemorated on the new $50 bank note is the Persons Case. I am especially pleased to be here tonight, helping to celebrate the 75th anniversary of that historic case, and honouring the Famous Five, who helped to enshrine the rights of all individuals, in Canada and other countries around the world, to participate on equal terms in political life.

There has been a dramatic move among major central banks over the past decade towards greater transparency in monetary policy, Bank of Canada Governor Gordon Thiessen told the Metropolitan Halifax Chamber of Commerce in a speech today. This process has been driven not only by the general trend to greater accountability on the part of […]

As the title of the conference suggests, we have seen many boom-and-bust cycles in the commodity sector. This raises one obvious and central question: How can we avoid them in the future?

Deputy Governor Sylvain Leduc discusses how upgrading Canada’s core payment systems will contribute to financial stability and help the Bank keep inflation on target.

I would like to thank students from universities across Canada for joining me on this special day, the 75th anniversary of the Bank of Canada

View the chronological list of crisis response measures the Bank of Canada took between December 12, 2007 and November 30, 2011.

Mr. Chairman, my colleagues and I always welcome our appearances before your committee. We released our latest Monetary Policy Report this past Monday. It covers a broad range of economic and monetary issues and provides an account of our policy actions and their results. The ultimate objective of Canadian monetary policy is to help create […]