stephen s poloz : opening statement before the house of commons standing committee on finance opening statement by mr stephen s poloz, governor of the bank of canada, before the house of commons standing committee on finance, ottawa, ontario, 6 june 2013. * * * introduction the bank of canada ’ s commitment to canadians is to promote the economic and financial welfare of our country. one way we do this is to communicate our objectives openly and effectively and stand accountable for our actions. so i thank you for the opportunity to come before you this morning to share the bank ’ s perspective. kindly note that today is day four on the job for me – i trust you will forgive me if there are any details i haven ’ t yet become familiar with. that said, i look forward to hearing your views and taking your questions, and i will answer them to the best of my ability. the common denominator that ties together all of the bank ’ s work is confidence. through our actions and our words, what the bank of canada delivers is confidence in our currency ; confidence in our role as fiscal agent for the federal government ; confidence in our banking system ; and confidence in the value of money. this is familiar ground to all of us here today. i don ’ t propose to delve into the details of the bank ’ s functions. rather, i will discuss the current context in which we are operating and how that is influencing the bank ’ s work of delivering confidence. in short : what are the challenges that we are facing? and, how do they affect the business of the bank? today's global context it is now almost six years since the start of the global financial crisis. given the near - collapse of the global financial system and the dramatic plunge in global demand, it ’ s perhaps no surprise that we haven ’ t yet returned to normal economic conditions. the global economy continues to struggle. most advanced economies are still facing credit stresses and record - low interest rates. many central banks continue to use unconventional means to provide stimulus, and governments are doing everything they can to manage their respective debt situations. clearly, the global economy is still in recovery. global economic activity is expected to grow modestly this year before strengthening over the following two years. but this is not a recovery in the usual sense. it ’ s more like a postwar reconstruction. it will require sustained and focused efforts to rebuild global economic potential. allow me to talk about how, in this context, the bank of canada

and investment capabilities. 13. last but not least, financial system can act as a blood - vein that nurtures the economy. we might not realize the necessity of having a healthy blood - vein system in our body. but if there is a blockage, one could experience a detrimental malfunction of the brain, and stroke may occur. the same applies to our economy ; efficient and accessible financial system will ensure smooth and solid transformation of the economy. at this juncture, financial institutions are a key in keeping the efficacy and health of the financial system in check. on one hand, financial prudence through enhanced risk supervision and management will provide a strong backdrop for improvement in financial system. on the other hand, the favorable financial system should also be underpinned by financial inclusion, which is analogous to having the blood - vein reaches all organs in our bodies. as i previously pointed out, increasing access to financial services will bolster economic dynamism where vast financial opportunities can be better tapped by private sectors. ladies and gentlemen, 14. to end my remarks today, allow me to reiterate that these key enablers will be necessary to support the areas of transformation for the gms. and on the prospect of the gms going forward, i would like to leave you with the vision of mr. lee kuan yew who viewed singapore as computer hard drive, and the foreign talents being the megabytes of storage capacity added to the computer. the computer will thus never hang given its enormous storage capacity. likewise, the increasing interconnection among the gms countries can help expand production potential and economic opportunities by utilizing each other ’ s spare capacity. i am therefore convinced that the conference today will also help generate more megabytes to our storage, which would help smooth our journey of transformation towards the sustainable growth of the region. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches