BOC to keep up pace with 50 basis point December rate hike: poll

BENGALURU — The Bank of Canada will hike its key interest rate by another 50 basis points to 4.25 per cent on Dec. 7, according to a slim majority of economists in a Reuters poll that suggests the central bank will then hit pause on a nine-month tightening campaign.

An economy that grew at a solid annualized 2.9 per cent rate in the third quarter is increasingly at risk from a falling property market and one of the highest household debtto-income ratios in the world, with the full effect of rate rises yet to be felt.

Inflation, at 6.9 per cent in October, is still running over three times the central bank’s 2 per cent target.