Inflation Dropping like a rock in Canada
Globe says CIBC, rivals see inflation cool to 4.3%
2023-04-19 07:46 ET - In the News
See In the News (C-CM) Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Canada's inflation rate is rapidly cooling this spring. The Globe's Matt Lundy writes that the Consumer Price Index rose 4.3 per cent in March from a year earlier, down from February's 5.2-per-cent pace, Statistics Canada reported on Tuesday. This is the lowest inflation rate since August, 2021. The slowdown was widely anticipated and matched expectations. There should be further easing in the coming months. The BOC projects inflation will ebb to about 3 per cent by the middle of the year, before returning to its 2-per-cent target by the end of 2024.
The BOC outlined that path for inflation last week, when it decided to hold its benchmark rate at 4.5 per cent. Price growth is moderating as businesses and households adjust to the fastest pace of rate hikes in decades, and as supply chains recover from disruptions.
Another reason for lower inflation is that the initial surge in commodity prices from when Russia invaded Ukraine is no longer part of the annual calculation of CPI growth because the invasion started more than a year ago. But even when price increases are calculated over shorter time frames, the trend has noticeably cooled off.