The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition that all but one of Canada's six biggest lenders now expect the central bank to cut borrowing costs by half a percentage point after inflation cooled by more than expected last month. A Bloomberg dispatch to The Globe says TD Bank is now the only major lender to see the odds of either a 25- or 50-basis-point cut next week as a coin flip, after the latest report that showed inflation fell below the Bank of Canada's 2-per-cent target for the first time since 2021. Scotiabank, BMO and National Bank, meanwhile, joined RBC and CIBC in changing their calls from the previous 25-basis-point forecasts for the Oct. 23 rate decision. The shift highlights a growing consensus that a gradual easing pace from policy-makers may not be sufficient to prevent a sustained undershoot of the inflation target as Canada's economy continues to weaken. A majority of traders in overnight swaps also increased their bets that the Bank of Canada will accelerate its pace of rate reduction after cutting by a quarter percentage point at each of its past three meetings. The benchmark overnight rate is currently 4.25 per cent and the country's labour market has weakened considerably over the past year.
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