CANADA

CANADA

GVI Bank of Canada Policy Meeting Preview Decision: July 15 at 13:00 GMT. BOC Overnight Target Rate: 3.00% Expected Decision: no rate change. The Bank of Canada surprised the markets on June 10 by holding rates steady. It also clearly signaled that policy now is on hold. It said: "the Bank now judges that the current stance of monetary policy is appropriately accommodative to bring aggregate demand and supply into balance and to achieve the 2 per cent inflation target. There continue to be important downside and upside risks to inflation in Canada, which the Bank will monitor closely. BANK OF CANADA Policy Objective: The Bank of Canada aims to keep inflation at the 2 per cent target, the midpoint of the 1 to 3 per cent inflation-control target range. This target is expressed in terms of total CPI inflation, but the Bank uses a measure of core inflation as an operational guide. Core inflation provides a better measure of the underlying trend of inflation and tends to be a better predictor of future changes in the total CPI. The chart above shows year/year CPI-X (core CPI) and the target of 2% for this price index.

The chart above shows the current three month Banker Acceptance rate, the current BOC overnight rate target and where the futures markets are currently trading three month rates for the specified periods in the future. The chart also includes comparisons of where these futures rates were trading most recently, a week ago and four weeks ago. The chart provides a view on where the markets feel Canadian interest rates are headed.

The chart above shows the Canadian overnight rate target, three month Bankers Acceptance, and two- and ten-year bond yields over the past twelve months.