Highlights, Economic and Financial Review-AMF
- In the world’s major economies, restrictive monetary policies appear to be yielding results. The process of disinflation is well underway but is becoming more challenging as inflation nears central bank targets
- The Bank of Canada and the European Central Bank have begun to lower their key policy rates owing to the continuing decline in inflation and the very gradual economic recovery in Canada and the euro area
- In the United States, the economy remains resilient despite some signs of a slowdown, and progress in reducing inflation is more modest. As a result, the Federal Reserve will wait until the fall to ease its monetary policy
- In Canada, inflation is back within the Bank of Canada’s target range of 1% to 3%. In June, the central bank cut its key policy rate by 25 basis points, to 4.75%
- The Québec economy has shown encouraging signs of recovery since the beginning of the year. Consumer spending is holding fast owing, in part, to strong wage growth
- Stock markets have performed well since the start of the year, bolstered by the resilience of the global economy and expectations of more flexible monetary policies
- On the bond markets, yields have been trending upward since the start of the year, reflecting persistent inflationary pressures. Investors have lowered their expectations of future monetary policy easing
Read more: Economic and Financial Review - Second Quarter 2023