Bank of Canada: What economists are expecting from the next policy announcement

​Economists expect the Bank of Canada will hold interest rates at its key policy announcement next Wednesday, but experts say the bigger question is what happens after the March meeting.

According to economists tracked by the Bloomberg terminal, experts anticipate the Canadian central bank will hold its key policy rate at 4.50 per cent.

“I don't think that the Bank of Canada will change policy at the next meeting, continuing with the conditional hold is probably their strategy for right now,” Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist at Alberta Central and a former economist at the Bank of Canada, said in a phone interview on Thursday.

In a statement at the last Bank of Canada interest rate meeting, the central bank said “If economic developments evolve broadly in line with the MPR [Monetary Policy Report] outlook, Governing Council expects to hold the policy rate at its current level while it assesses the impact of the cumulative interest rate increases.”