policy
IN NEED OF GUIDANCE Having raised its trend-setting policy rate to 3.25% in early September—from 0.25% only a few short months ago—the Bank of Canada is hoping to crush currently-elevated inflation. Of course, it doesn’t wish to do so at any cost: as it attempts to tame inflation it is also seeking a so-called “soft landing” for Canada’s housing markets and for the broader economy. Part of the Bank’s strategy is providing “forward guidance”—in a nutshell, hints about what their next move will be, or at least, the basis on which it will make future rate decisions.
Most recently, the Bank stated that it “still judges that the policy interest rate will need to rise further”, with complementary action vis-a-vis quantitative tightening (which affects longer-term rates). Their hope is that tighter monetary policy will bring demand more in line with supply across Canada. How much rates will, or need to, rise is still up for debate, but don’t rule out seeing that policy rate hit 4.0% come the end of October.
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