The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday, Feb. 14, edition that as markets boost their bets on interest rate cuts this year, investors are heavily focused on exactly how low borrowing costs will ultimately fall as the inflationary menace retreats. A Financial Times dispatch to the Post reports that central banks including the United States Federal Reserve and European Central Bank will be influenced by an elusive and controversial concept: the so-called neutral rate of interest -- the borrowing rate that keeps economies growing steadily, with full employment and inflation near 2 per cent. After falling to rock-bottom levels before the pandemic, the neutral rate has, by some measures, edged up recently. This could suggest official rates will not head as low as their prepandemic levels, even as inflation eases. "Whether you are a bank or business or government or household, I don't think you should expect interest rates to go back to preCOVID levels, so there's an adjustment to come," said Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, speaking before his central bank's recent policy decision. Mr. Macklem said, "There are a number of things suggesting that the neutral rate could be higher."