First, let me repeat what I said when I last appeared before this committee. As I said then, the latest report on the monetary policy of the Bank of Canada, issued in January, forecasts an annual growth rate of 0.5% for the first semester in the United States, which is very weak. As I also said, we are expecting a reduction in American interest rates that should sustain the American economy in the future.
Our report also mentioned one of the risks involved in our reference scenario, which is a weakening of the American economy. We incorporated this risk in our forecasts. Thus, we are currently analyzing all the recent data and we have set a date, which will be next week. As usual, we are analyzing all the data regarding next week's decision. Once again, as we stated in our January report, we will probably have to step up the degree of monetary easing in our reference scenario soon.