Bank of Canada seeks more evidence rates are now high enough
BNN Bloomberg
The Bank of Canada’s No. 2 official said policymakers need time to assess whether they’ve raised borrowing costs enough to curb inflation, reiterating that their path on rates can differ from peers.
In the first speech after keeping interest rates unchanged for the first time in nine meetings, Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers said Thursday that while officials have seen a “mixed picture” of economic data since January, “things are unfolding broadly in line” with the central bank’s forecast.
“We’ll need to see more evidence to fully assess whether monetary policy is restrictive enough to return inflation to 2 per cent,” she said in a speech to the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce in Winnipeg.
The comments suggest policymakers are comfortable keeping borrowing costs at current levels, but that the conditional hold isn’t set in stone. Rogers acknowledged there are conflicting signals from the economy as well as global pressures.