This is supposed to be a light-hearted evening where we can relax, share jokes and enjoy ourselves. Unfortunately, we cannot ignore what is happening in the world around us, recognising that behind the numbers, often in the hundreds of billions, that are frequently referred to stand tens of millions of people whose lives, hopes and dreams have been altered forever.
We also need higher interest rates to keep Canadians’ expectations of inflation anchored on the target, so that as global inflationary pressures from higher oil prices and clogged supply chains abate, inflation in Canada falls back toward the target. We are committed to using our policy interest rate to return inflation to target and will do so forcefully if needed.