Instant view: Bank of Canada cuts rates again
2024.07.24 10:21
TORONTO (Reuters) – The Bank of Canada on Wednesday trimmed its key policy rate by 25 basis points for the second month in row, bringing it down to 4.5%, and said more cuts were likely if inflation continued to cool in line with forecasts.
MARKET REACTION: [CAD/]
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COMMENTS
DOUG PORTER, CHIEF ECONOMIST AT BMO CAPITAL MARKETS
“The rate cut itself was not much of a surprise. The market had largely anticipated that.”
“A few things that stood out for me … there’s a lot of talk about the downside risks. Whether it’s the Governing Council is focusing more on the downside risks or they’re actually now trying to talk about perking up growth, they’re talking about the labor market showing signs of slack – to me, this is the signal that more rates are coming before too long.”
“We’ll see about September. We probably need good inflation numbers in the next little while to lock in another rate cut in September, but it’s certainly a possibility. It does sound like this is clearly not the end.”
