By Paul Vieira

OTTAWA--The Bank of Canada says it is on pace to become one of the first major central banks to finish reducing excess reserves on its balance sheet accumulated on an emergency basis during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Deputy Gov. Toni Gravelle said Thursday the central bank expects to announce an end to its so-called quantitative-tightening program in the first half of this year. Under the program, referred to as QT, the central bank lets securities on its balance sheet roll off at maturity, without using the proceeds to acquire other assets.

"QT is almost finished," said Gravelle, according to prepared remarks he is scheduled to deliver in Toronto. "When QT ends, we will be back to business as usual for how we manage our balance sheet."


Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com


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