Bank of Canada announces rate decision summary publishing next year

According to a statement made by the Bank of Canada, the decisions made as a result of discussing rates and other aspects of monetary policy will be summarized and published, with publications starting next year. The decision on releasing such summaries was made after a recommendation from the International Monetary Fund following a transparency review.

It was also noted in the Bank’s statement that the mentioned summary, called "Summary of Deliberations," will be released in about two weeks after any sort of decision is made on the interest rate, just like meeting minutes of other central banks are published. The meeting scheduled on January 25 will be the first occasion when a decision like this might be taken, and, accordingly, a Summary of Deliberations is expected to be delivered afterwards.

As it was stated by Jeremy Harrison, Managing Director of Communications, it’s considered that the mentioned summary will provide a sophisticated report of the issues examined by the Bank’s Governing Council, and also shed light onto the key parts of their discussions concerning risks and economic development.

Harrison additionally added that the summary won’t link any of the decisions to certain members of the Council, as the decision-making system accepted within it is based on consensus. No votes will also be recorded due to votes not being used in the system as well.

Economists believe that publishing of such summaries might have an effect on the markets, aiding in avoiding needless volatility. Summaries of similar types are also used by the Federal Reserve System of the U.S. and the Bank of England.

Desjardins Group’s head of macro strategy, Royce Mendes, pointed out that releasing of such summaries might provide the necessary context for the decisions made by the Council, which have been lacking for a period of time.