CANADA: Term Repo Operations Could Have Side Benefit For Funding Pressures
IFrom Dep Gov Gravelle's Q&A.
Q: What’s the difference between o/n and term repo operations, do you think it’s an efficient tool to normalize CORRA?
Gravelle: We often see intraday or recently it’s been every day upward, or downward, pressures on benchmark repo rates. Routinely, when we see upward pressure we intervene by repo operations and reverse repos on downward pressures. When we start doing term repos that might have an effect on the o/n repo rate, but it’s not the intention. It could be a side benefit though of allowing dealers to circulate that liquidity in the o/n markets.
[See chart below on recent upward pressures on the overnight target rate]
Q: How would you go to balance between off- and on-the-run bonds?
Gravelle: We’re looking to buy assets as a business-as-usual approach to offset currency in circulation, with a mix of assets. We’re buying GoC bonds in the secondary market. Our policy guideline will be to have as little market impact as possible, to get the bonds we need. We’re not trying to aim to have one set of bonds more liquid than the other, we just want the whole GoC market to improve and been more liquid.