Statistics Canada to detail October inflation reading
Posted Nov 17, 2020 11:00 am.
Last Updated Nov 18, 2020 6:03 am.
OTTAWA — Statistics Canada will say this morning how the country’s headline inflation measure fared last month with expectations of another near-zero reading.
The consumer price index went up in September by 0.5 per cent compared with a year ago, which was a slightly better-than-expected increase when Statistics Canada released the figure last month.
The consensus is for a reading today along the same lines.
Financial data firm Refinitiv says the average economist estimate is for an increase in the price index of 0.4 per cent compared to October 2019.
The longer inflation stays near-zero, the longer the Bank of Canada plans to keep its key policy rate in the same territory to drive down rates on mortgages and business loans.
The central bank forecasted last month that annual inflation would be 0.6 per cent this year, one per cent next year, and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
It’s around 2023 that the Bank of Canada may start raising its key rate, the earliest the bank anticipates the economy would be able to handle higher rates.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2020.
The Canadian Press
