Lawrence Schembri: Anchoring expectations - Canada's approach to price stability

Remarks by Mr Lawrence Schembri, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada, to the Manitoba Association for Business Economists, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 15 February 2018.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Thank you for the invitation to speak to you today here in the hometown of James Coyne.

Mr. Coyne, who died in 2012, was the governor of the Bank of Canada from 1955 to 1961. As governor, he stressed that price stability should be the primary function of monetary policy.

That principle-price stability-is now the cornerstone of monetary policy frameworks around the world. In practice, it is achieved by maintaining inflation at a low, stable and predictable level.

Our mandate at the Bank of Canada's is to "promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada." And, like former Governor Coyne, we believe that inflation control is the main contribution monetary policy can make to achieving that goal.