The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday, Oct. 30, edition that Governor Tiff Macklem provided further insight into the Bank of Canada's big interest rate cut. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that Mr. Macklem called the easing sensible, especially considering the aggressive rate hikes the bank undertook to manage rising price pressures over the past few years. During an event in Toronto on Monday, Mr. Macklem countered the notion that larger-than-quarter-point interest rate reductions should only occur in emergencies or times of economic distress.
Since March, 2022, the central bank raised the benchmark overnight rate from 0.25 per cent to 5 per cent in a span of less than eighteen months. Mr. Macklem also emphasized the need for the bank to "discover" the neutral rate -- the theoretical level of borrowing costs that neither stimulates nor restricts the economy. While policy-makers estimate this neutral rate to be between 2.25 per cent and 3.25 per cent, Mr. Macklem reiterated that achieving this would require a scenario where the economy faces no shocks, inflation is at 2 per cent, and growth is near its full capacity. He stated that such a situation "will never happen."
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