*  *  *  I am pleased to participate in the panel discussion at this Institute of International Finance Spring 2006 Membership Meeting. As I will make clear, I think meetings of this sort, by contributing to the dialogue between the leaders of financial institutions and policymakers, can play a critical role in increasing mutual understanding and improved decisionmaking by both groups.
With these important considerations in mind, the Governing Council decided to front-load the path to higher interest rates today. This is our fourth consecutive interest rate increase since March. We know that higher interest rates will add to the difficulties that Canadians are already facing with high inflation.