erkki liikanen : issues related to the russian, chinese and other emerging market economies opening remarks by mr erkki liikanen, governor of the bank of finland, at the bofit ( bank of finland institute for economies in transition ) anniversary conference, helsinki, 22 november 2016. * * * your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen it is my pleasure to welcome you all to the 25th anniversary conference of the bank of finland institute for economies in transition, or as it is more commonly known, bofit. this conference brings together central banking and academic research communities to discuss issues related to the russian, chinese and other emerging market economies. where were we 25 years ago when this all started? the world, and especially europe, was experiencing a massive political and economic upheaval as the soviet union broke up and many countries in the socialist bloc were embarking upon a journey towards liberal market economies. finland was greatly affected by all these events. finland ’ s own economic and financial crisis was deepened by the collapse in demand from the soviet union – and later from russia. as this collapse coincided with the end of our bilateral trading arrangements, some could have linked the two events. but in reality the soviet union and later russia had very limited purchasing power in 1991 and 1992. no trading agreement between our countries could have maintained the trade on the earlier levels. on this particular issue – finnish - soviet trade – a book will be published next year, written by professor pekka sutela, a former head of bofit and ms inkeri hirvensalo. both writers are here with us today. the changes brought by the end of this special trading arrangement had a big impact also on the bank of finland. an entire department had handled payments related to finnish - soviet trade. but already in the 1980s there were economists at the bank who were following the soviet economy and trying to analyse the reforms or changes introduced in many areas. economists involved in this work formed the basis of bofit. when bilateral trade was ending, the bank ’ s board decided to maintain its analytical activities. a new unit was tasked to follow and analyse the formerly socialist countries in central and eastern europe. russia was the largest and economically most important for finland. but during that period there was also a great need for information and analysis on e. g. the baltic states. the bank of finland responded to this demand. over the years the geographical focus of bofit has changed, and –

tiff macklem : putting the resolute in resolutions - looking ahead to lower inflation remarks by mr tiff macklem, governor of the bank of canada, at the business council of british columbia, vancouver, british columbia, 12 december 2022. * * * introduction good afternoon. it's a great pleasure to be here. i want to thank the business council of british columbia for inviting me to speak today. i am particularly looking forward to sitting down after my remarks and discussing the issues facing the province, the challenges confronting the canadian economy and the questions being put to the bank of canada. this is my final speech of 2022 - and what a year it has been. a year - end speech often looks back at what's happened and ahead to what's next. this one fits that mould. what's different is that nothing about our recent economic experience fits the mould of the last 30 years. the pandemic brought on - again, off - again shutdowns to the global economy, dramatic shifts in the goods and services consumers wanted to buy, and a myriad of hurdles for producers to supply them. all of this, combined with russia's horrific aggression in ukraine, has brought sharply higher inflation and rapidly rising interest rates. last week, we raised our overnight policy rate by 50 basis points to 4. 25 %, our seventh consecutive rate increase since we began raising interest rates in march to fight inflation. deputy governor sharon kozicki explained our decision in a speech last thursday. today, i'd like to provide a broader perspective. i want to reflect on what we've learned in 2022, discuss what could lie ahead and explain what we're focused on at the bank of canada. it's a bit early for new year's resolutions, but i already know what ours is : restore price stability. we are resolute in our commitment to return inflation to the 2 % target. higher interest rates are working to rebalance the economy. domestic demand is slowing, and we expect growth in gross domestic product will be close to zero through to the middle of next year as the economy adjusts to higher interest rates. this will relieve domestic price pressures, and inflation will come down. the adjustment will not be easy, but restoring price stability is the most important thing we can do to improve the economic and financial well - being of canadians. looking back a year ago, the economy was getting closer to capacity, but we