Ottawa: Canada’s inflation rate was two percent year-on-year in October, the country’s statistics agency said yesterday, a figure in line with the central bank’s targets and likely to set up another interest rate cut.
Data from Statistics Canada showed inflation had nudged higher compared to September, when annual inflation was 1.6 percent.
The October data, which was consistent with analyst expectations, showed grocery prices were up 2.7 percent and shelter costs had risen 4.8 percent year-on-year.
Despite the uptick from the September figures, analysts remained confident the Bank of Canada would press on with rate cuts when its governors meet on December 11.
Canada had held its benchmark rate steady for almost a year at 5.0 percent, the highest level in two decades, before initiating cuts in early June.
It was the first G7 country to begin trimming rates after a protracted period of inflation triggered largely by the pandemic.
At its October meeting, the bank opted for an aggressive half-point rate cut to 3.75 percent, saying data showed Canada’s battle against inflation had worked and the economy was cooling.
