OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada held its benchmark interest rate steady for the sixth consecutive time today as it expects the economy to rebound after a rough start to the year.
The central bank’s policy rate remains at 2.25 per cent after the hold, which was widely expected by economists.
New forecasts from the Bank of Canada also show that inflation is expected to ease back toward the central bank’s two per cent target by next year after jumping in response to surging oil prices over the spring.
Officials at the central bank are so far seeing little spillover from the Iran war into prices beyond gas pumps and the grocery store.
But renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran have reinforced that it’s an uncertain time to forecast gas prices, and by extension, inflation.
The Bank of Canada was surprised by a modest contraction in the economy to start the year but the central bank now expects those temporary drags will pass and set the economy up for growth through the rest of 2026.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2026.
Craig Lord, The Canadian Press
Keep it Factual
Add CityNews Toronto as a trusted source on Google to see more local stories from us.
