OTTAWA - The Bank of Canada is not through with trying to find a better way of conducting monetary policy, but no major change seems likely in the foreseeable future.

Both the bank and the federal government have been looking into whether tightly targeting inflation at two per cent is the best way to "enhance the well-being of Canadians (through) sustained economic growth."

But after five years of hard thinking, seminars, research papers and forums, the two sides announced Tuesday that the bank will continue to conduct monetary policy pretty much like it's done since 1991.

Left on the planning board were such options as lowering the inflation target to one per cent or even zero or adopting a novel price-level targeting approach that sees through temporary price fluctuations.

But in the end, the financial crisis that began in mid-2008 and continues to threaten the world with another recession after triggering the worse downturn in six decades made any changes too risky, the bank said.

"The global financial crisis has reinforced the reality that economic stability and financial stability are inextricably linked," the bank reasoned in background papers on the decision released Wednesday.

"A framework anchored on a solid, credible inflation target provides the flexibility for monetary policy to play an occasional role in supporting financial stability."

In other words, the bank says it already has the ability to impact financial markets by simply extending -- or shortening -- the time horizon by which it seeks to bring inflation back to two per cent if a shock throws it off course.

In fact it is doing it now. With inflation running at 3.2 per cent, the bank appears in no hurry to bring inflation to heel quickly because to do anything now, like raising interest rates, risks damaging an already fragile economy.

Overall, the bank says the current approach "has now demonstrated its worth through both tranquil and troubled times," having kept inflation running at about two per cent for almost two decades.

Not that Carney and his policy deputies are through researching options, however. The bank is looking at the next mandate renewal date, in 2016, to see whether it should change its target and this time it will have the experience of how countries fared under the crisis to look at.