economy and its commitment to achieving the 2 % inflation target. today i will provide an update on economic developments, with a focus on inflation and the forces behind it. i will also review the role of monetary policy in bringing inflation back to target. finally, i want to look ahead to the next phase of our balance sheet management and the mechanics of qt. like so many things that have happened during the pandemic, this will be new territory for canadians, and i want to ensure the process is clear and transparent ahead of time, so that everyone understands what comes next. economic update since january the canadian economy is robust. growth of gross domestic product in the fourth quarter was very strong at 6. 7 %, reinforcing our view that economic slack in the economy has been absorbed. and growth in the first quarter of 2022 looks more solid than previously projected. as expected, inflation has remained high. inflation control is our number one job at the bank, so i want to explain what is driving these price increases and what canadians can expect looking ahead. since last spring, consumer price index ( cpi ) inflation has surged well above our target range of 1 % to 3 %. in january, cpi inflation was 5. 1 %. the russian invasion of ukraine is driving up international prices for oil, wheat and other commodities. this will put further upward pressure on inflation in canada and around the world. setting aside the crisis in ukraine, the surge in inflation we have seen since last spring largely reflects pandemic - related shifts in global supply and demand. but this rise in inflation has been larger than we expected six months ago, and price increases have broadened. so i want to take a closer look at the forces at play. one indication of the unusual forces at play is the large gap that has opened up between different measures of core inflation. all three of our core measures have increased in recent months. cpi - common, which is more related to inflation in services and less influenced by global supply disruptions, was only 2. 3 % in january. in contrast, cpi - median and cpi - trim, which have been more influenced by the prices of globally traded goods, were 3. 3 % and 4. 0 %, respectively ( chart 1 ). - 3chart 1 : inflation measures are elevated % year - over - year percentage change, monthly data - 1 total cpi cpi - common cpi - trim sources : statistics canada and bank of canada calculations cpi - median target last

. we should certainly point out that the growth of the real economy is supported by and feeds into a banking industry whose strength is well documented. standard & poor ’ s latest banking outlook ( february 2014 ) notes that “ philippine banks will likely continue to benefit from the country ’ s buoyant economic prospects in 2014 ”. and in moody ’ s own banking report ( 2014 outlook dated december 2013 ), the philippines is the only jurisdiction whose banking system they rate to have a positive outlook. thrift banks as an industry may be small when compared to its universal and commercial bank peers. but it is by no means left behind. peso deposits mobilized grew by 22 percent in typhoon pablo is the strongest tropical cyclone to ever hit mindanao. the zamboanga crisis was a 30 - day stand - off. the earthquake in bohol was the deadliest earthquake the philippines has experienced in 23 years while typhoon yolanda is the most devastating typhoon on record. bis central bankers ’ speeches 2013, loans expanded by 13 percent, total resources rose by 16 percent, while profitability increased by 18 percent. the challenges that lie ahead all these should be more than enough reason to be optimistic about the future of the banking industry. but financial markets can swiftly change course … everyone here is more than aware that the saving that takes a long time to put together could be the investment that loses value in a “ mark - to - market ” second. and when financial markets get shocked, the impact leaves a mark in both depth and breadth. as an industry then, your stereotypical challenge is to maximize your strengths while addressing your weaknesses … this brings us to the question of what a thrift bank represents … this is a question of “ character ” which would define the path that you will take as well as those side roads that you ought to avoid. as i look at your asset - liability structure, i note that 86 percent of your liabilities are peso deposits and 66 percent of assets are in loans. although your universal and commercial bank peers have peso deposits at roughly the same magnitude ( 72 percent ), u / kbs only have 47 percent of their assets in loans. this fact is material. without another avenue for generating revenues, the viability of the thrift bank model must rest in the balance between sourcing retail saving and deploying the same as loans. and as you dig deeper into the loan portfolio, it becomes readily evident that the bulk of the credits lie in consumer finance. from this perspective, consumer