C.D. Howe Institute's Monetary Policy Council Calls for Bank of Canada to
Maintain its Benchmark Interest Rate at 0.25 Percent, With Increases in 2010

TORONTO , Oct. 15 /CNW/ - The C.D. Howe Institute's Monetary Policy Council (MPC) today recommended that the Bank of Canada hold its target for the overnight interest rate at 0.25 percent at its next announcement on October 20, 2009 . The Council further recommended that the Bank keep the target at 0.25 percent at the Bank's subsequent announcement in December, in keeping with the Bank of Canada's conditional commitment to do so into 2010. The MPC looked for a target of 0.50 percent in the next six to twelve months. The overnight rate is a very short-term money-market rate that the central bank targets for monetary policy purposes.

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 target. Finn Poschmann, the Institute's Vice President, Research, chaired today's meeting, the Council's fiftieth.

For the full Communique, go to: www.cdhowe.org

For further information: Kristine Gray at [phone] or [email protected]