The Bank of Canada has raised its benchmark interest rate again, to 4.5 per cent.
The move was widely expected by economists as the bank tries to wrestle record-high inflation into submission.
It’s the eighth time in less than a year that the bank has hiked its trendsetting rate — a move that will make borrowing money more expensive.
But at one quarter of a percentage point, it’s also the smallest hike since March, and thus a sign that the bank may be done with hiking rates for the next little while.
The bank said as much at a news conference following the announcement, with governor Tiff Macklem using the word “pause” to describe the bank’s monetary policy strategy at this moment.
“With today’s modest increase, we expect to pause rate hikes while we assess the impacts of the substantial monetary policy tightening already undertaken,” he said. “To be clear, this is a conditional…
