The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, July 16, edition that businesses and consumers in Canada anticipate that the economy will continue to struggle, but expect inflation to decline. The Globe's Mark Rendell writes that this is based on the findings of two surveys conducted by the Bank of Canada, which were published on Monday. The surveys indicate a strong likelihood of the BOC implementing another interest-rate cut at its next announcement on July 24. The BOC's quarterly survey of businesses revealed subdued expectations for future sales, reduced cost pressures related to wages, and limited interest in hiring or investing in machinery and equipment. These pessimistic views are influencing companies' plans to increase prices and their inflation forecasts. "Businesses expect the growth of their input prices and selling prices to slow, suggesting that inflation will continue to decline over the coming year," the BOC said, noting that most companies now think inflation will be within the bank's 1-per-cent to 3-per-cent control range over the next few years. Individual expectations for near-term inflation also "declined significantly," according to the BOC's consumer survey, after stalling for several quarters.
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