The Bank of Canada on Wednesday hiked its key interest rate to 4.5%, the highest level in 15 years, and became the first major central bank fighting global inflation to say it would likely hold off on further increases for now.
. The bank has lifted rates at a record pace of 425 basis points in 10 months to tame inflation, which peaked at 8.1% and slowed to 6.3% in December, still more than three times the 2% target.
Royce Mendes, director and head of macro strategy at Desjardins, said Macklem and his team would keep rates on hold for at least the next few months.Macklem said the bank wanted to take time to see how effective the rapid hikes had been in dampening excess demand and hot labor markets that have fueled inflation.
Money markets actually see the Bank of Canada cutting rates already in October, but Macklem dismissed discussion of cuts as premature."It's really far too early to be talking about cuts," Macklem said. "The pause really is designed to give us time to assess whether we've raised interest rates enough to get inflation all the way back to target."
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Breaking: Bank of Canada hikes policy rate by 25 bps to 4.5% as expectedThe Bank of Canada (BoC) announced on Wednesday that it hiked its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.5% following the January policy meet
Read more »
USD/CAD prepares to test weekly lows around 1.3320 ahead of Bank of Canada policyUSD/CAD is hovering near the critical support above 1.3340 in the early European session. The Loonie asset has dropped after failing to sustain above
Read more »
USD/CAD: Mid-Term Lows Flirted with as Bank of Canada LoomsThe USD/CAD is traversing near the 1.33600 ratios as it hovers close to critical mid-term lows.
Read more »
Bank of Canada set for one more rate hike in historic tightening campaignThe Bank of Canada is expected to raise interest rates to a 15-year high on Wednesday in the face of a tight job market and above-target inflation, but economists say the move could be the last in the current tightening cycle.
Read more »
BOC's Macklem: Time to pause and assess whether policy is sufficiently restrictiveFollowing the Bank of Canada's decision to raise the policy rate by 25 basis points to 4.5%, Bank of Canada (BoC) Governor Tiff Macklem delivers his r
Read more »
Bank of Canada: Rates likely to remain at 4.5% this year, before easing in 2024 – CIBCThe January meeting of the Bank of Canada resulted, as expected, in a 25 basis points rate hike. BOC's Tiff Macklem said it is time to pause and asses
Read more »