Bank Of Canada Official Calls Rate Path A Dilemma

Moses Shown the Promised Land — Benjamin West, 1801

What Happened

Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Toni Gravelle said Tuesday that policymakers face a dilemma weighing trade war fallout against inflation from high energy costs. Speaking in New York, he described "vigorous, deep debates" among officials. The bank held rates at 2.25 per cent in September for a seventh straight meeting.

Why It Matters

Traders are pricing roughly 50-50 odds on a rate hike at the Oct. 28 meeting, and are pricing 100 basis points of hikes by June. Higher fuel costs risk bleeding into everything else people buy, while trade tensions with the U.S. threaten growth from the other direction. Central banks are built to solve one problem at a time. This is two problems pulling in opposite directions, and consensus-based decision-making doesn't make that easier — it just hides the disagreement until the statement comes out.

What's Next

Statistics Canada releases its next inflation report Oct. 19, ahead of the bank's Oct. 28 rate decision.

Takeaway

The Bank of Canada admits it's stuck between two problems with opposite fixes.

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