The Bank of Canada announced the raising benchmark interest rate to 3.25%

Xinhua News Agency Ottawa, September 7 (Reporter Lin Wei) Bank of Canada (central bank) announced on the 7th that 75 basis points raised interest rates, raising the benchmark interest rate to 3.25%. This is the fifth interest rate hike this year.

The Bank of Canada also announced that it will continue to reduce the scale of the balance sheet to cooperate with the interest rate hike policy to further relieve the pressure of inflation.

The Bank of Canada said that the inflation rate in Canada in July has fallen, but the price pressure, especially in the service industry, will further expand, short -term inflation expectations will also maintain a high level, and the benchmark interest rate will still need to be further improved.

The Bank of Canada said that in the second quarter of this year, Canada's economic growth rate was 3.3%, which was slightly lower than that of central bank expectations, but domestic demand indicators were very strong, consumption increased by about 9.5%, and commercial investment increased by nearly 12%. It is expected that as the housing market cools down and the monetary policy is tightened, the economic growth rate will slow down in the second half of the year.

After the new crown epidemic outbreak in Canada in early 2020, the Bank of Canada quickly lowered the benchmark interest rate, down from 1.75%in February of that year to 0.25%in March. In January of this year, the Bank of Canada President Tiff McLem said that Canada will enter a gradual interest rate hike channel this year. The Bank of Canada announced in March that 25 basis points were raised, and 50 basis points were announced in April and June, respectively. In July, 100 basis points raised the benchmark interest rate to 2.5%.

[Editor in charge: Zhang Xinran]

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