Bank of Canada Pares Back Bond Purchases, Shifts to Long End

© Bloomberg Tiff Macklem, governor of the Bank of Canada, arrives to a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The Bank of Canada reiterated its pledge to keep interest rates at historic lows for years to come, but dialed back its willingness to take even more aggressive action and said it could adjust its bond purchase program.

(Bloomberg) — The Bank of Canada reinforced its commitment to keep interest rates at historical lows over the next few years, but made a number of technical adjustments to its bond purchase program that should maintain the current level of stimulus.

In a policy statement Wednesday, officials led by Governor Tiff Macklem held the central bank’s overnight rate at 0.25%, indicating they will likely keep it there until 2023. In a surprise move, however, they pledged to pare back purchases of government bonds to a minimum C$4 billion ($3 billion) a week, down from C$5 billion, and to shift purchases to long-term bonds, typically a more stimulative form of quantitative easing.

The net effect will be a wash, the Bank of Canada said. “The Governing Council judges that, with these combined adjustments, the QE program is providing at least as much monetary stimulus as before,” according to the statement.

Despite the changes, the Bank of Canada has retained a largely accommodative stance, with no indication it plans to pare back stimulus, with risks to the economy rising amid a second wave of Covid-19 cases.

“As the economy recuperates, it will continue to require extraordinary monetary policy support,” the bank said. “We are committed to providing the monetary policy stimulus needed to support the recovery and achieve the inflation objective.”

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Canada’s currency extended declines, falling 1% to C$1.3146 against its U.S. counterpart at 10:23 a.m. Yields on government two-year bond were little changed at 0.24%, while those on 10-year bond dropped 2 basis points to 0.58%.

The bank reiterated its commitment to keeping the overnight rate at near zero until economic slack is absorbed and the 2% inflation target is sustainably achieved — which it doesn’t predict to happen until 2023. It also recommitted to purchasing bonds until the recovery is “well underway.”

At the same time, the adjustment may seek to address concerns the central bank’s asset purchase program was too large for the country’s outstanding bond market.

The central bank already owns just over a third of Canada’s federal government debt, and officials have been under pressure to provide some details on how they could temper reliance on asset purchases without tightening policy.

(Updates with quotes from statement throughout.)

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