Tonight I shall briefly outline the present challenges of our monetary policy in the context of an external environment characterized by uncertainties. Before I proceed with the main theme of my address let me reiterate a few remarks I made in the post February 2003 months this year.
Interest-sensitive sectors, such as housing and automobiles, showed remarkable strength. As a result, we saw annualized growth of 2 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, when many analysts were expecting the Canadian economy to continue to shrink.