Further interest rate hikes might be needed: Bank of Canada

Résumé détaillé

The Bank of Canada’s governing council thinks it might need to raise interest rates further, but it’s proceeding carefully, according to a summary of deliberations.

OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada’s governing council thinks it might need to raise interest rates further, but it’s proceeding carefully, according to a summary of deliberations of its recent decision to raise its key policy rate for the first time since 2023.

According to the report, the council acknowledged it faced considerable uncertainty and said it would take its monetary policy decisions one meeting at a time.

The Bank of Canada raised its policy interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.5 per cent last month to reduce the risk that stubbornly high oil prices become persistent inflation.

The summary says the council members agreed that monetary policy cannot lower global energy prices, but can prevent them from leading to generalized inflation.

The decision came as the Bank of Canada raised its outlook for the annual inflation rate to hit 3.5 per cent at the end of this year and remain above three per cent for much of 2027.

The summary of deliberations said higher costs largely haven’t been passed through to consumers so far, but the bank’s surveys suggest businesses expect to raise some prices over the next year.

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