C.D. Howe Institute's Monetary Policy Council Urges Bank of Canada to
Maintain Overnight Rate at 1.00 Percent, With Increases to 1.50 in June 2011
and 2.50 Percent by December 2011

TORONTO, Dec. 2 /CNW/ - The C.D. Howe Institute's Monetary Policy Council (MPC) today recommended that the Bank of Canada maintain its target for the overnight interest rate (the very short-term money-market rate the Bank targets for monetary policy purposes) at 1.00 percent at its next announcement on December 7, 2010. The Council also recommended holding the target rate at 1.00 percent at the following announcement on January 18, 2011, followed by increases that would take it to 1.50 percent in June 2011 and 2.50 percent in December 2011.

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. William Robson, the Institute's President and CEO, chairs the Council.

For the full release go to www.cdhowe.org.

For further information:

Kristine Gray - phone: [phone]; e-mail: [email protected]