the current year looks set to be well above our target rate of 2 % once again. in the most recent projection, eurosystem staff expected an annual average of 2. 7 %. based on this reading, inflation will not reach its target until 2025. an easing of monetary policy can only be contemplated once it is sufficiently certain that the target will be reached. that is why, at its last meeting, the ecb governing council once again left key interest rates unchanged and made it clear that it was still too early to cut interest rates. what is now important is to closely monitor economic and financial developments in the euro area and draw the right conclusions. the exchange of expertise between central banks is an important basis for this. indeed, it is one of the reasons we are in close contact with each other. regular dialogue increases mutual understanding and allows us to move closer to our common objective of safeguarding price stability. this good cooperation is based in no small part on direct personal contacts. 3 bundesbank representative in riga that is why the bundesbank has taken the step of now also seconding a representative, in the person of mr nikola marcinko, to the german embassy in riga, the largest city in the baltic region. he will report on developments in latvia, estonia and lithuania concerning economic and fiscal policy and financial stability. in addition, he will also foster the bundesbank's trust - based relationships with the central banks of the baltic states and will strengthen its contacts with national authorities and financial institutions on the ground. this network will complement and deepen the relationships we already enjoy with the central banks. i am delighted that, in nikola marcinko, we have found such a fitting representative for our work in riga. having completed his studies in engineering science and gathered his first professional experience in the private sector, mr marcinko enrolled in the bundesbank's trainee programme, where he gained an excellent overview of central banking. he then deepened his knowledge of the work in the eurosystem, for example during his time in the division for " policy issues relating to monetary policy implementation ". 4 concluding remarks ladies and gentlemen, the german comedian heinz erhardt, who was born in riga, once said : pessimists are people who look to the future wearing sunglasses. in light of current geopolitical tensions, demographic developments in europe and global climate change, the future may indeed appear a little dim. however, i'm not the pessimist

since april should be positive, on net, for the canadian economy. these higher prices help boost profits of canadian oil producers and improve our terms of trade — the price we receive for our exports relative to the price we pay for our imports. that said, given the uncertainties the oil sector faces, the prospect of substantial increases in investment are not likely to be as high as in past cycles. we also noted in our discussions that housing resale activity remained soft into the second quarter, as the housing market continues to adjust to new mortgage guidelines and higher borrowing rates. with other measures of activity in the housing sector more generally holding up, we are still expecting resale activity to pick up over the second quarter. more data from a range of sources in the coming weeks will help further inform our understanding of this adjustment process. as i discussed earlier, the labour market continues to improve and wages are rising at rates closer to what would be expected in an economy operating at potential. together with sustained high levels of consumer confidence, this should continue to support housing construction and consumption growth more generally. finally, governing council still sees elevated trade policy uncertainty as a factor restraining business investment. we expect business investment to increase, but not by as much as it could without this uncertainty. that said, business sentiment and investment intentions remain positive, suggesting that firms are getting on with business and adjusting to this more volatile environment. as such, the greater - than - expected increase in imports of machinery and equipment in the first three months of the year bodes well for business investment growth. this is encouraging because it is consistent with our broader narrative of a rising contribution coming from investment and exports, and it is important to the evolution of economic capacity. - 7a final point before i conclude. uncertainty is everywhere and can come from many sources. regardless of the source, it ’ s important to note that households and businesses continue to make economic decisions as they plan for the future. and so does the bank of canada in setting monetary policy. monetary policy decisions are always made with an imperfect picture of the future, and they must be forward looking, always with our mandate — the inflation target — in mind. conclusion allow me to conclude. yesterday, we decided that the current policy stance remains appropriate. overall, developments since april further reinforce governing council ’ s view that higher interest rates will be warranted to keep inflation near target. governing council will take a gradual approach to policy adjustments, guided by incoming data. in particular, the bank will