Today, the Bank of Canada announced that they are maintaining the current prime rate of 6.70% and overnight rate of 4.50%. This marks the first time in 371 days that our central bank has not increased interest rates.
While the Bank of Canada left the door open for future rate hikes in 2023 if inflation increases again, this is still a good sign that we are on track to get back to lower rates towards the end of 2023 / early 2024.
Recent data showed that inflation slowed to 5.9 per cent in in January, the lowest it has been since February 2022. The Bank of Canada says it still expects the annual inflation rate to fall to around three per cent by mid-year.
For the full Bank of Canada press release, click here.
The next Bank of Canada rate announcement is April 12, 2023. The Bank will publish its next full outlook for the economy and inflation, including risks to the projection, in the Monetary Policy Report at the same time.
