(Ottawa) Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said Thursday that Canadian interest rates do not necessarily have to match U.S. or global rates, but that there is a limit to large deviations.
Mr. Macklem made the comments Thursday morning during his testimony before the House of Commons Finance Committee.
The central bank governor says Canada is far from its limit when it comes to the spreads between Canadian and American interest rates.
The Bank of Canada is widely expected to begin lowering its key rate in the coming months, but forecasters believe the U.S. Federal Reserve will take longer.
The Federal Reserve did not lower interest rates on Wednesday. She warned that she would not reduce them until she was certain that the annual inflation rate would return to the 2% target in the United States.
The Bank of Canada’s policy rate currently stands at 5.00%, which is below the US Federal Reserve’s policy rate target range of 5.25 to 5.50%.
— With information from the Associated Press.