The Directorate for Economic Forecasting and Studies (Dppe) notes that the European Central Bank (Bce) started to ease its monetary policy at its last meeting. The main refinancing rate increased to 4.25% and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility increased to 4.50% and 3.75% respectively. The Bank of Canada style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style”, "serif"> also declined by a quarter point (0.25 points), bringing its main policy rate to