of our current arrangements for cross - border payments. and as this conference amply demonstrates, despite the challenges of this last year, we still have been able to make important progress. i again thank the cpmi and jon cunliffe for their leadership and look forward to working together as we improve these payments for businesses and individuals alike. * this sentence was updated after publication : the phrase " sometime in late 2023 or 2024 " was updated to " sometime in 2023 ". see financial stability board ( 2020 ), enhancing cross - border payments : stage 3 roadmap ( pdf ) ( basel, switzerland : fsb, october ). see board of governors of the federal reserve system ( 2020 ), “ federal reserve announces details of new 24x7x365 interbank settlement service with clearing functionality to support instant payments in the united states, ” press release, august 6. 3 see bank for international settlements ( 2020 ), “ central banks and bis publish first central bank digital currency ( cbdc ) report laying out key requirements, ” press release, october 9. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

. for over a decade, following a joint agreement with the federal government, the bank has operated with a system of inflation targets. we aim to keep the trend of consumer price inflation at the 2 per cent midpoint of a 1 to 3 per cent range. because we have managed to keep inflation inside the target range through most of the past decade, canadians'expectations for inflation have become firmly anchored around the 2 per cent target. right off the top, let me assure you that the bank of canada will continue to pursue a monetary policy focused on returning inflation to that 2 per cent target, should it deviate in either direction. canada's inflation - targeting framework operates symmetrically ; that is, we minimize the chances of both a sustained upward drift in inflation and the threat of deflation. recently, rates of inflation in canada have come in higher than expected. at the same time, a weak global economic environment, the huge drop in equity prices, and declines in the prices of some manufactured goods are raising fears of deflation in other countries. let's look at both these risks. the upside risk : inflation first, let's consider the upside risk of accelerating inflation. it has been more than a decade since canada has experienced prolonged high inflation. since the targeting system was put in place, both the trend of inflation and inflation expectations have come down to near 2 per cent and stayed there. in recent months, cpi inflation has risen substantially, for several reasons. we've seen higher oil and gas prices, higher home and auto insurance premiums, higher tobacco taxes, and, in ontario, higher electricity prices. there has also been the " echo effect " of temporary price discounting in late 2001, following the 11 september terrorist attacks. at the same time, stronger demand in canada has been pushing up prices in some sectors, such as housing and some services. these pressures are starting to show up somewhat more broadly in the cpi data ; and, without offsetting declines in other components of the cpi, these pressures are having an impact on all our measures of trend inflation. this suggests to us that demand conditions may be strong enough now to make it easier to raise prices and widen profit margins. the bank's policy aims to maintain total cpi inflation at 2 per cent, or to return it to that point within 18 to 24 months. with that horizon in mind, we need to look through any short - term volatility — and there's been a lot of short -