April 24 (Reuters) - Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz says:
* REMOVED REFERENCE TO NEED FOR INTEREST RATES TO RETURN INTO A NEUTRAL RANGE TO EMPHASIZE THAT WE WILL CONTINUE TO EVALUATE THE APPROPRIATE DEGREE OF MONETARY POLICY ACCOMMODATION AS NEW DATA ARRIVE
* MONETARY POLICY NEEDS TO MAINTAIN A DEGREE OF ACCOMMODATION SUFFICIENT TO OFFSET VARIOUS HEADWINDS UNTIL THE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK IMPROVES
* ECONOMY HAS SLOWED AND SOME EXCESS CAPACITY HAS RE-EMERGED, ALTHOUGH THIS EXCESS CAPACITY IS NOT GENERALIZED ACROSS THE ENTIRE ECONOMY
* IF RECENT SLOWDOWN IN ECONOMY PERSISTS, THEN WE WOULD FORESEE INFLATION TRENDING BELOW TARGET IN THE FUTURE; WE BELIEVE SLOWDOWN OF GROWTH TO A BELOW-POTENTIAL PACE WILL PROVE TO BE TEMPORARY
* LIMITED ACCESS TO MARKETS FOR CANADIAN CRUDE REMAINS A SIGNIFICANT SOURCE OF DRAG AND UNCERTAINTY
* DOUBTS ABOUT THE RATIFICATION OF NEW NORTH AMERICAN TRADE TREATY REMAIN A DOWNSIDE RISK TO OUR INVESTMENT OUTLOOK
* THERE IS GOOD REASON TO BELIEVE THAT THE ECONOMY WILL PICK UP IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR