The Bank of Canada held its key policy rate at 2.75 per cent for the third time in a row on Wednesday, as expected, and said the risk of a severe and escalating global trade war had diminished.
The Bank of Canada on Wednesday held its key policy rate at 2.75 per cent, its first pause after seven consecutive cuts, and said that the uncertainty around U.S. tariffs made it impossible to issue regular economic forecasts.
Canada's unemployment rate rose more than expected to 6.8 per cent in November, a near-eight-year high excluding the pandemic years, even as the economy added a net 50,500 jobs, data showed on Friday, boosting chances of a large interest rate cut next week.
The Bank of Canada on Wednesday reduced its key benchmark rate by 50 basis points to 3.75 per cent, its first bigger-than-usual move in more than four years, and hailed signs the country has returned to an era of low inflation.
Canada's annual inflation rate slowed more than expected to 1.6 per cent in September, data showed on Tuesday, prompting markets to increase bets of a 50 basis point rate cut next week. The easing of inflation, which was mainly led by a huge drop in the price of gasoline, was the smallest annual increase in consumer prices since February 2021, Statistics Canada said.
The Bank of Canada on Wednesday trimmed its key interest rate by 25 basis points for the second month in a row, bringing it to 4.5 per cent, and said more reductions in borrowing costs were likely if inflation continued to cool in line with forecasts.
The Bank of Canada trimmed its key policy rate on Wednesday to 4.75 per cent from a 23-year high of five per cent.
Inflation is now running at 2.7 per cent, above the central bank's two per cent target, but down from a high of 8.1 per cent in June 2022, Reuters reported.
With the growing likelihood of an interest rate cut by the Bank of Canada, spillover from the move could prove to be beneficial for canola prices, according to Calgary-based Errol Anderson of Errol’s Commodity Wire.