The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday edition that the Bank of Canada is widely expected to cut its policy rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday and there are few indications that it will stop there, economists say.
The Post's Jordan Gowling writes that a quarter-point cut this week would be the third in a row and bring the overnight rate down to 4.25 per cent. Wednesday's decision comes as the Bank of Canada has signalled a more dovish tone in recent months, with economists predicting cuts at every meeting for the remainder of the year and into 2025.
TD economist Beata Cranci says: "I don't think they'll signal that's the end of the road. I think they'll maintain openness to continuing to do more. ... But in typical bank speak, I would expect they'll continue to indicate they are data dependent and watching how the data evolves."
The consumer price index hit 2.5 per cent in July, its slowest pace in nearly three years. The BOC has forecast inflation will return to its 2 per cent target by the end of next year. Desjardins economist Jimmy Jean says, "The last CPI print, when we looked purely at the number of components, nearly 50 per cent were growing at less than 1 per cent, so that's pretty significant."
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