So last Tuesday (17 April), we cut the Bank Rate by a further 25 basis points to 5 per cent, bringing the total reduction in interest rates since January to 100 basis points. This means that the overnight rate here in Canada is now at 4 3/4 per cent.
Whether one accepts this optimistic assessment or not, there are evidently significant potential benefits to financial deepening that go beyond the financial sector itself. How has the common currency improved financial efficiency? Perhaps the most dramatic effects of the monetary union in the financial sphere have been in fixed-income markets, both government and private.