The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Oct. 31, edition that Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem stated the central bank is ready to cut interest rates by half a percentage point again if economic conditions require it. The Globe's Mark Rendell writes that Mr. Macklem told the Senate committee on banking, commerce and the economy on Wednesday: "We're taking it one meeting at a time. We've demonstrated we're prepared to do a 50-basis-points cut if we think that's appropriate. And if we think it's appropriate to do it again, we'll do it again." With inflation back near the BOC's 2-per-cent target, monetary policy-makers are trying to get interest rates back to a more neutral level to stimulate growth and avoid a recession. Mr. Macklem said on Wednesday, "We've been pretty clear that we anticipate lowering them further, unless we're surprised by economic developments." He said that BOC's recent interest-rate cuts are starting to feed through into the economy, with an uptick in consumer confidence. Mr. Rendell says financial markets are betting that the BOC will shift back to a quarter-point cut at its next meeting on Dec. 11, with interest-rate swap markets putting the odds at about 90 per cent.