The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that several Bay Street analysts are predicting the Bank of Canada will halt its balance sheet reduction and start purchasing bonds in the near future, which could bring an end to a multiyear experiment earlier than expected. The Globe's Mark Rendell writes that the BOC has been slimming down its balance sheet over the past two years. This process, known as quantitative tightening, involves the BOC letting the huge sums of government bonds it bought in 2020 and 2021 mature without replacing them. This has the effect of draining money out of the financial system, reinforcing the restrictively high interest rates the bank is using to slow the economy and combat inflation. BOC officials said last year they expected it to end some time in late 2024 or early 2025. However, there are signs, emanating from the heart of the financial system, that the BOC may need to shift gears sooner rather than later. The BOC's decisions on when and how to wind down quantitative tightening will impact bond markets and could ripple through the broader economy, analysts say. These choices will determine the new steady state for Canada's financial system after several years of extraordinary change.