CITIGROUP economist Veronica Clark says September headline and core CPI
undershot expectations, making a near-term BOC rate hike hard to justify and
undermining the bank’s data-driven policy stance. Annual CPI rose to 3.1% but
the increase was almost entirely due to gasoline; food inflation was
unexpectedly muted. Clark expects demand weakness amid excess supply to keep
price pressures subdued and forecasts policy rates will remain on hold for the
rest of the year.