Loonie Falls As Bank of Canada Turns Dovish
As had been widely anticipated, the Bank of Canada held its benchmark overnight rate at 5 percent this morning, but language in the accompanying statement, Monetary Policy Report, and prepared comments tilted in a more clearly-dovish direction, helping lift market expectations for rate cuts in the first half of the year. Policymakers attempted to navigate a difficult communications challenge: while acknowledging signs of weakness in the economy and expressing approval of declining inflation pressures, they also sought to avoid repeating last year’s mistake – triggering a sharp rise in home prices and aggregate demand by encouraging an unwarranted easing in...