Ottawa: The Bank of Canada today increased its target for the overnight rate to 4¼%, with the Bank Rate at 4½% and the deposit rate at 4¼%. The Bank is also continuing its policy of quantitative tightening.
In a statement, Bank of Canada said that inflation around the world remains high and broadly based. Global economic growth is slowing, although it is proving more resilient than was expected at the time of the October Monetary Policy Report (MPR). In the United States, the economy is weakening but consumption continues to be solid and the labour market remains overheated. The gradual easing of global supply bottlenecks continues, although further progress could be disrupted by geopolitical events.
Pertinently, the Bank of Canada started a series of interest rate hikes in March to curb inflation. Inflation had come down to 6.9 per cent in October after hitting 8.1 per cent in July.