The Bank of Canada decided to keep its benchmark interest rate steady at five per cent.
Economists starting to think rate cuts will start happening in 2024
The Bank of Canada decided to keep its benchmark interest rate steady at five per cent.
The move was widely expected, as after raising its trendsetting rate 10┬аtimes since early 2022 to slow down runaway inflation, the bank has been signalling recently that it thinks it may be nearing the end of that hiking cycle.
The bank’s rate influences the rate that Canadians get on things like variable-rate loans and some savings accounts.
The bank raised the rate to its current level in July, but has stood still ever since, as the Canadian economy shows signs of cooling.
“The slowdown in the economy is reducing inflationary pressures in a broadening range of goods and services prices,” the bank said in announcing its decision.
Economists who monitor the central bank think it is indeed now done with hiking, and expectations are that the bank will in fact start to cut its rate some time in 2024.
Help shape the future of CBC article pages by taking a quick survey.
More to come.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
