Slowing inflation won't stop Bank of Canada from keeping interest rate unchanged – Bloomberg

In March, consumer price growth in Canada unexpectedly slowed to 2.3% year-on-year from February's 2.6%, according to Statistics Canada. On a monthly basis, the figure amounted to 0.3%. Thus, in both cases, the value of inflation in Canada was below the forecast estimates of specialists surveyed by Bloomberg.

However, as noted by the agency, market participants and economists still expect that the Bank of Canada will keep the interest rate at the current level on Wednesday amid uncertainty in global trade due to US tariffs. Even though US President Donald Trump excluded Canada from reciprocal tariffs earlier this month, he has already imposed duties on Canadian goods including steel, aluminum, and automobiles.

Recent surveys conducted by the country's central bank have indicated that households and businesses expect inflation in Canada to increase due to trade tensions.

At the same time, according to a Bloomberg survey carried out ahead of Wednesday's rate decision, by a small margin, most economists expect the central bank to keep borrowing costs unchanged.