The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Oct. 24, edition that the Bank of Canada cut interest rates by half a percentage point on Wednesday, reducing the benchmark policy rate to 3.75 per cent. The Globe's Mark Rendell writes that this is the fourth consecutive cut since June, aiming to ease monetary policy and achieve a soft landing for the Canadian economy. Governor Tiff Macklem said: "We took a bigger step today because inflation is now back to the 2-per-cent target and we want to keep it close to the target. We need to stick the landing." He said the BOC expects to continue lowering interest rates, but added that the pace of cuts will depend on incoming economic data. Financial markets expect the policy rate to fall to about 2.5 per cent by the end of next year. Mr. Macklem stopped just short of declaring mission accomplished, saying that Canadians no longer needed to fret about widespread price increases, even if the prices for many goods and services themselves will remain higher than before the bout of inflation. He added: "It's been a long road back from the high inflation we experienced coming out of the pandemic. We're coming out the other side, and I think Canadians can breathe a sigh of relief."