Bank of Canada Debated Waiting Until July to Drop Interest Rates

The Bank of Canada considered holding off its benchmark interest rate cut until July but opted to make the change this month thanks to favourable inflation reports, according to the bank’s newly released summary. Canada’s central bank announced June 5 that its key rate would drop from 5 percent to 4.75 percent, the first cut since March 2020. Governor Tiff Macklem said at the time that Canada had “come a long way in the fight against inflation,” but a newly released summary of deliberations suggests the bank’s decision was not an easy one. The summary says the bank’s six-person governing council analyzed the risks of cutting rates too soon versus waiting too long....