##eration phase, with weak demand. if, as we expect, supply is restored more quickly than demand, this could lead to a large gap between the two, putting a lot of downward pressure on inflation. our main concern is to avoid a persistent drop in inflation by helping canadians get back to work. policy tools let me now turn to our monetary policy tools. in normal times, we deliver or withdraw stimulus as needed by adjusting our target for the overnight interest rate. that one - day interbank interest rate generally doesn ’ t affect consumers directly, except those with variable - rate mortgages. but changes in the overnight rate affect borrowing costs further out on the yield curve, which is where most consumers and businesses borrow. at the onset of the pandemic, we could see that there would be a huge hit to confidence. so, back in march, the bank rapidly lowered our policy interest rate to 0. 25 percent. this action was not really expected to boost spending in the early days of the pandemic. its immediate purpose was to help support confidence and provide some interest rate relief. but as more retail businesses reopen, low interest rates will help support spending. the policy rate is now at its effective lower bound. some central banks have taken their policy rates below zero. we feel that bringing that rate into negative territory could lead to distortions in the behaviour of financial institutions. however, the bank has a number of other tools we can use to help stimulate demand. the bank has launched a series of purchase programs that involve buying different types of assets. we have launched programs to buy canada mortgage bonds, commercial paper, bankers ’ acceptances, corporate bonds, and provincial and federal government debt. we introduced these programs to make sure that key markets would function properly, and that credit would continue to flow. credit is the lifeblood of market - based economies. during a crisis, it is imperative that central banks maintain access to credit in order to avoid a credit crunch. when markets aren ’ t functioning properly, the ability of monetary policy to provide stimulus also breaks down. but financial markets are now working considerably better. with this improvement, our asset - purchase programs are becoming a source of monetary stimulus. the bank has committed to buying at least $ 5 billion of canadian government bonds a week until the recovery is well underway. as these large - scale asset purchases build up, they are delivering stimulus through a process that is often called quantitative easing, or qe. here ’ s how it works

yakiv smolii : labor market and monetary policy opening speech by mr yakiv smolii, governor of the national bank of ukraine, at the annual research conference " labor market and monetary policy ", organized by the national bank of ukraine and the national bank of poland, online, 28 may 2020. * * * ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the annual research conference of the national bank of ukraine and narodowy bank polski. today ’ s event is special. first, it is the fifth anniversary conference. second, it is held online for the first time. third, we will discuss a very sensitive topic that is especially important for the world today as it suffers from the coronavirus crisis : the labor market and monetary policy. although the event is remote, speakers and participants from around thirty countries have gathered in this virtual room. indeed, the topic of this year ’ s conference is relevant for any country. many countries have managed to rein in inflation and attain low levels of unemployment over past decades. however, economic inequality, population aging, migration, and numerous other aspects continue to threaten economic development and long - term macroeconomic stability of the world. let ’ s look at the key labor market trends that shape the global economy today. demographic trends go first. the development of the healthcare system allows people to live longer. however, with insufficiently high birth rates, this leads to a gradual population aging. as a result, increased pressure is put on the social security system and on employees and state budgets in the case of pension systems where mandatory contributions are made to the general pension fund. with globalization, labor market liberalization, and conflicts in a number of countries, the world has faced greater migration from lower - income countries to the countries where incomes are higher. according to the international organization for migration, there are currently 272 million migrants in the world. the labor migrants account for two thirds of this number. on the one hand, the global economy benefits from economic migration. labor migrants ’ host countries cover their needs in labor force, attract younger workers, and experience an increase in productivity and entrepreneurial spirit, a trait that is more typical of labor migrants than of those who stay home. in turn, migrants ’ home countries receive short - term dividends in the form of remittances, which are rather stable compared to other financial inflows. on the other hand, international migration has a flip side : the shortage of labor force in migrants ’ home countries,