Most economists in a Wall Street Journal survey expect the BOC to raise rates on Wednesday, the bank's first hike in over three years. Governor MACKLEM has highlighted rising fuel costs that could push up non-energy goods prices, a key driver of market expectations for tightening. The survey and analysts report higher inflation expectations among firms and households, prompting a bias toward earlier action. Despite US trade-policy uncertainty, Canada’s economy remains relatively resilient with r

Most economists in a Wall Street Journal survey expect the BOC to raise rates on Wednesday, the bank's first hike in over three years. Governor MACKLEM has highlighted rising fuel costs that could push up non-energy goods prices, a key driver of market expectations for tightening. The survey and analysts report higher inflation expectations among firms and households, prompting a bias toward earlier action. Despite US trade-policy uncertainty, Canada’s economy remains relatively resilient with retail sales and exports beating forecasts. In the WSJ poll of 15 economists, 11 forecast a 25bp hike to a 2.50% overnight rate target and four expect no change; most still see at least one additional hike later despite some soft patches in the economy.