The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that last Tuesday, Statistics Canada revealed the annual inflation rate in August touched the Bank of Canada's 2-per-cent target. The Globe's Mark Rendell writes that the next day, the U.S. Federal Reserve kicked off its cutting cycle with an unusually large half-percentage-point move -- lowering the range for its Fed funds rate to 4.75 per cent to 5 per cent -- and signalled more rate cuts are to come. Both countries appear to be on track for a soft landing, where price stability is restored without a recession. Both central banks clearly see the finish line, and want to get borrowing costs down to a more neutral level fairly quickly before they do undue damage to employment and overshoot the 2-per-cent inflation target. That opens the door to larger rate cuts from the BOC, which has so far delivered three quarter-point cuts since June, bringing its policy rate to 4.25 per cent. "At least for the Bank of Canada, it kind of stuck the landing," said Beata Caranci, chief economist at TD Bank. The Fed, by comparison, seems to be behind the curve on cutting interest rates, she said, where the policy rate "should probably be right now at about 4 per cent not 5 per cent."
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