The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday, Jan. 22, edition that the Bank of Canada is expected to remain on pause for its first interest rate decision of the year, but analysts will be watching for hints about the timing of future rate cuts. The Globe's Mark Rendell writes that financial markets and Bay Street economists see the BOC holding its policy interest rate at 5 per cent on Wednesday, in what would be its fourth standpat decision since July. It will also publish a new set of projections for inflation and economic growth. Governor Tiff Macklem and his policy-maker colleagues are entering 2024 in a kind of limbo. High borrowing costs have brought economic growth in Canada to a standstill, unemployment is on the rise, and businesses and consumers are feeling gloomy, according to BOC surveys published last week. Yet so far, the economy has avoided an outright recession, which many economists were predicting this time last year. Meanwhile, the annual rate of Consumer Price Index inflation has slowed considerably since a mid-2022 peak of 8.1 per cent. However, it ticked up to 3.4 per cent in December from 3.1 per cent the month before. The odds of the first rate cut happening in April are at about 60 per cent.