MNI: BOC To Start Publishing Meeting Minutes After IMF Review

The Bank of Canada will start publishing summaries of monetary policy decisions following its January meeting, in response to an IMF pilot study of central bank transparency.

The Summary of Deliberations will contain "issues discussed by Governing Council, as well as insight into the key points of focus in their deliberations on economic developments and the risks," Communications Managing Director Jeremy Harrison said in a statement Wednesday. They will also include "insight into the range of policy options that Governing Council may be considering," he said. Comments won't be attributed to individuals and no vote will be recorded since the Bank works on a consensus basis.

Canada is the first G7 central bank to participate in the pilot transparency review that emerged from the IMF's 2020 update of its disclosure guidelines. The IMF said in a copy of the report provided by the BOC that Canada's central bank "sets a high benchmark for transparency."

The IMF also urged the Bank to go further with disclosures around how it works with other agencies and oversight of financial market programs such as currency intervention and reserves management. The Bank in its response also declined some of IMF advice related to providing more details on alternative policy scenarios and shortening the five-year lag on publishing staff economic projections.