Carney says he will be clear about interest rate hikes to stem debt problems

OTTAWA – Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he will be transparent in the future about any moves the bank makes to raise interest rates.

In a speech delivered in Nanaimo, B.C., Carney said he intends to ensure that Canadians know exactly what the bank is doing and why. Notes on the speech were made available to reporters in Ottawa.

The central bank governor says if he were to raise interest rates to stem mounting household debt, for instance, he would clearly state how long he expected the measure would take to work.

It was unclear whether Carney was setting the grounds for a policy shift, but the example he chose was telling in that it targeted the one aspect of the economy that he has described as Canada’s top domestic vulnerability.

Earlier in the day, Statistics Canada revised its data on family finances showing that household market debt had risen to a record 163 per cent of disposable income, well above the 152 per cent previously reported using a less focused measure.