Prices of key commodities produced by Canada fell, and the growth of Canadian aggregate demand was adversely affected. At the same time, and mainly because of the downturn in world commodity prices, the Canadian dollar depreciated against the U.S. dollar. This depreciation, together with a strong U.S. economy, partly offset the negative effects of the Asian crisis on Canadian aggregate demand.
However, for the USD and other currencies, there will be no comparable benchmarks once LIBOR ceases to exist, and the only option will be to transition to risk-free rates (Figure 4).