securities transfer act. the efficiency of our financial markets would be improved if provincial and territorial governments would proceed with legislation to replace the current patchwork of legal rules in this area and to provide a sounder legal basis for the holding and transfer of rights in securities that are held in book - entry form. this is just one example of encouraging initiatives that are under way. at the bank of canada, we will continue to contribute to these efforts by conducting research and promoting discussion on ways to improve the functioning of our financial institutions and markets and to enhance the safety and soundness of canada's financial system. we share this research with regulators, market participants, and the public. our financial system review, published twice a year, is part of that effort. conclusion let me now conclude. as i noted at the beginning, there are powerful global economic forces at work, and economies everywhere need to adjust. businesses in ottawa, and in the rest of canada, are making adjustments to meet these challenges and to take advantage of emerging opportunities. at the bank of canada, we will continue to monitor these global forces closely and to assess their impact. we will continue to conduct monetary policy with the aim of keeping inflation close to our target and the economy operating at its full potential. we will maintain our efforts to promote a safe and efficient financial system. and, as always, we will work to enhance the confidence of canadians in the value of their money and the stability of their economy. in this way, we will do our part to facilitate the adjustments that the canadian economy is making to changes in the global economy.

an official asset to provide international liquidity, as shown in the decline in the relevance of the sdr. but since the asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, a number of central banks in that part of the world have increased their dollar reserves in order to protect themselves from possible future crises by creating what i have termed a “ diy lender of last resort ” facility in dollars. is the dominance of the dollar in world reserves a reflection of historical factors that are less and less relevant today? or are there fundamental reasons for the world's central banks to continue using one main currency as a source of liquidity? second, given that each bloc ’ s policy choices reflect domestic objectives, what could be achieved through international meetings? the starting point is the need to find a common analysis. domestic policies should at least be based on mutually consistent assumptions. only when there is agreement on the nature of the risks inherent in current international monetary arrangements will there be the possibility of a cooperative outcome that is an improvement for all, not just for some. third, how might we arrive at such a common analysis? the g - 7 arose out of an earlier episode of concern about exchange rate movements in the 1980s. most smaller countries can choose their exchange rate regime without worrying about its impact on the rest of the world. but the large countries – especially the three blocs i identified at the outset – cannot ignore their interdependency. that is why it is important to expand the group of countries that discuss these issues beyond the g - 7 to include those, such as china and india, whose actions increasingly have global economic consequences. my main conclusion is that the international monetary system should be seen not as a series of bilateral relationships, but as a multilateral arrangement, albeit one where a small number of the key players can usefully communicate with each other. i believe that we need to rethink the role of the imf in the international monetary system. i encourage the fund to articulate a positive vision for the management of the international monetary system in its forthcoming strategic review. i am not convinced that the future of the fund is primarily as an occasional international lender of last resort for middle - income countries suffering financial crises. at this conference the emphasis is naturally on ways to promote productivity and enterprise. monetary stability at home is now widely recognised as a necessary condition for a successful economy. it provides, as i said at last year ’ s conference, a springboard for enterprise. but international monetary