Economists expect the Bank of Canada will hold its benchmark interest rate at 0.25% when it announces its latest rate decision on Wednesday morning (September 8).
The interest rate decision comes ahead of a speech to be delivered by Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem on Thursday (September 9). Economists will be looking to see what the central bank has to say about the near-term direction of the Canadian economy.
The Bank of Canada has said it will keep its trend-setting interest rate near zero until the economy is ready to handle an increase in rates, which it doesn't expect to happen before the second half of 2022.
The central bank lowered its expectations for economic growth in July. At that time, the Bank of Canada said it expected the economy to grow 6.0% this year, down from its previous forecast of 6.5% growth. However, the central bank raised its outlook for next year to growth of 4.6% in 2022, up from its earlier forecast of 3.7%.
