Bank of Canada announced its latest monetary policy decision today at 3:00 pm GMT. Bank was expected to keep interest rates, with the main rate staying at 5.00% for the third meeting in a row. As neither economists nor money markets saw a chance for a change in the level of rates, attention was entirely focused on forward messaging and setting expectations for 2024.
Bank of Canada has indeed left rates unchanged as market expected. BoC said that Canadian economy is no longer in excess demand. Bank said that it is concerned about demand outlook and is ready to hike rates again if needed. BoC said that higher rates are restricting spending and labor market continues to ease, but it wants to see a further, sustained easing in core inflation.
Canadian dollar gained following the decision announcement as it seemed less dovish than expected. While mention of inflationary risks was removed from the statement, the bank has stopped short of saying that rate cuts may come next year, and stuck to its cautious wait-and-see approach. While USDCAD dropped following the decision, scale of the move was rather small, and it did not change much in the technical outlook for the pair.
Source: xStation5