Bank of Canada announced its latest monetary policy decision at 2:45 pm BST today. Bank was expected to deliver the first rate cut of a new easing cycle and become the first G7 central bank to lower rates. However, some financial institutions saw a risk of BoC keeping rates unchanged at today's meeting to gain an even greater confidence of inflation moving towards mid-point of 1-3% target.
However, there was no surprise and BoC decision was in-line with market consensus - Bank of Canada cut rates by 25 basis points to 4.75%. Bank of Canada said in a statement that with continuing evidence of underlying inflation easing, policy no longer needs to be as restrictive. It was also said that it is reasonable to expect further rate cuts if inflation continues to ease. However, in spite of cutting interest rates, Bank of Canada decided to continue quantitative easing.
Start investing today or test a free demo
Create account Try a demo Download mobile app Download mobile appA strong hint that further rate cuts are coming is putting pressure on Canadian dollar. USDCAD jumped in response to the policy announcement and moved above 1.3700 mark.
Source: xStation5
