Monetary Policy Report submitted to the Congress on February 27, 2008, pursuant to section 2B of the Federal Reserve Act

Figure of yields on benchmark government bonds in selected advanced foreign economies, 2004-08. Data are plotted as four curves. The yields for the United Kingdom start at about 4¾ percent, rise to about 5¼ percent by mid-2004, decline to about 4¼ percent by early 2006, rise to about 5½ percent by mid-2007, decline to about 4½ percent by the end of 2007, and then rise a bit to about 4¾ percent by the end of the period. The yields for Canada start at about 4¾ percent, fall to about 4¼ percent in early 2004, rise to about 5 percent by mid-2004, decline to about 4 percent by mid-2005, rise to just more than 4½ percent by mid-2006, decline to about 4 percent by the end of 2006, rise to about 4¾ percent by mid-2007, and fall to just less than 4 percent by the end of the period. The yields for Germany start at about 4¼ percent, fall to just less than 4 percent in early 2004, rise to just more than 4¼ percent by mid-2004, decline to about 3 percent by late 2005, rise to about 4¾ percent by mid-2007, and then decline to about 4 percent by the end of the period. The yields for Japan start at just less than 1½ percent, rise to nearly 2 percent by mid-2004, decline to about 1¼ percent by mid-2005, rise to about 2 percent by early 2006, and fall to about 1½ percent by the end of the period.

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