Description
The Bank of Canada held rates steady, again, for the fifth consecutive time to no one’s surprise (but disappointing perhaps for homeowners and others anxiously awaiting a cut).
Its latest decision came even though the latest data from January shows inflation in Canada is slowing and is within the central bank’s target range of 1% to 3%, but not quite at its target of 2%. Still, Governor Tiff Macklem said that while it’s clear the central bank’s previous moves are working, it’s too early to cut the benchmark rate.
Scotiabank’s Chief Economist Jean-François Perrault is back to break down the latest decision, what the Bank of Canada needs to see in order to start cutting rates and when a rate cut is likely at this point.
Key moments this episode:
00:56 — What have we learned from this latest announcement?
1:43 — What numbers fed into this rate decision?
3:08 — Why has it been so hard to get to that Bank of Canada inflation target?
4:50 — If shelter costs are the most stubborn part of inflation, how much can the Bank of Canada move the needle?
7:12 — Breaking down the conundrum around how inflation and shelter costs are related
8:26 — What other risks could drive up inflation?
10:05 — When might we see rate cuts?
12:05 — What would need to happen for the Bank of Canada to begin interest rate cuts?
13:24 — How does government spending factor into the Bank of Canada’s upcoming decisions?
15:46 — It’s been about two years since the Bank of Canada began hiking rates. What have we learned since then?
17:16 — The two things Canadians need to know after the decision today
This episode we have a very special guest: award-winning author Michelle Good. Michelle is a writer of Cree ancestry and a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. Her books include Five Little Indians and Truth Telling. Her writing takes an unflinching look at our nation’s past...
Published 06/19/24
The Bank of Canada has cut its key interest rate for the first time in more than four years, marking a pivot in its long fight to tamp down inflation. After a quarter-percentage-point cut, the central bank’s benchmark rate now sits at 4.75% — welcome relief for variable-mortgage holders,...
Published 06/05/24