Council Reports

March 6, 2012 — The C.D. Howe Institute’s Monetary Policy Council (MPC) today recommended that the Bank of Canada maintain its target for the overnight rate, the very short-term interest rate the Bank targets for monetary policy purposes, at 1.00 percent at its next announcement on March 8, 2012. Tension between concerns about inflation running above target domestically and fear of adverse events abroad led the group, on balance, to recommend that the overnight rate should stay at 1.00 percent over the coming year.

The MPC is a panel sponsored by the C.D. Howe Institute to provide an independent assessment of the monetary stance most appropriate for the Bank of Canada as it seeks to achieve its 2 percent inflation…

January 12, 2012 — The C.D. Howe Institute’s Monetary Policy Council (MPC) today recommended that the Bank of Canada maintain its target for the overnight rate, the very short-term interest rate the Bank targets for monetary policy purposes, at 1.00 percent at its next announcement on January 17, 2012. Weak economic indicators in Canada and abroad, and the possibility of a dramatic deterioration in Europe’s fiscal and financial situation, led the MPC to call for the Bank’s overnight rate to stay at 1.00 percent past mid-year, with the median call for the rate in a year’s time being 1.25 percent.

The MPC is a panel sponsored by the C.D. Howe Institute to provide an independent assessment of the monetary stance most…

October 20, 2011 — The C.D. Howe Institute’s Monetary Policy Council (MPC) today recommended that the Bank of Canada maintain its target for the overnight rate, the very short-term interest rate the Bank targets for monetary policy purposes, at 1.00 percent at its next announcement on October 25, 2011. The Council further recommended holding the target at 1.00 percent at the following announcement on December 6, 2011, and called for a continued target of 1.00 through April 2012, followed by an increase to 1.50 percent by October 2012.

The MPC is a panel sponsored by the C.D. Howe Institute to provide an independent assessment of the monetary stance most appropriate for the Bank of Canada as it seeks to achieve its 2…