Drag from cheap oil largely over, Bank of Canada says

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Conversations with market participants and business surveys are invaluable for the Bank of Canada's decision-making, Deputy Governor Lynn Patterson said on Wednesday in a speech that reiterated the hawkish sentiment that rate cuts had done their work. Repeating Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins' recent assessment of the bank's move to cut rates twice in 2015, Patterson said the rate cuts had done their job. "Two years later, it is our view that these cuts have helped facilitate the economy's adjustment to the oil price shock and that the economic drag from lower prices is largely behind us," Patterson said in prepared remarks to financial analysts in Calgary. While the central bank relies on its models and incoming data for its forecast, Patterson said regular outreach, business surveys and private meetings with financial players are critically important, particularly during times of transition or when sentiment is playing a bigger role. "And while we are committed to communicating new information on the outlook and policy only in public settings, the insights we garner in both public and private are invaluable for our policy making," Patterson said. (Reporting by Nia Williams in Calgary, writing by Andrea Hopkins in Ottawa)