Bank of Canada Holds Policy Rate at 5%, Reiterates Inflation Outlook Concern

OTTAWA—The Bank of Canada held its policy rate at 5 percent on March 6, and said it remains concerned about the outlook for inflation. The BoC statement’s final paragraph about its Governing Council is essentially identical to that from its prior interest rate decision of Jan. 24. With the underlying trend still growing faster than 3 percent annually, the BoC said it needs to give higher interest rates more time to do their work and it does not want to squander the progress made in the fight against high inflation. “Governing Council wants to see further and sustained easing in core inflation,” according to the Bank of Canada’s press release....