Bank of Canada governor to deliver year-end remarks as interest rates soar – National | Globalnews.ca

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem is expected to make an end of the year speech Monday afternoon.

The remarks come after the central bank hiked its key interest rate by half a percentage point on Wednesday, bringing it to 4.25 per cent – the highest it’s been since January 2008.

Since March, the Bank of Canada has hiked its key interest rate seven consecutive times in an effort to bring inflation down and slow the economy.

The central bank signaled last week that it might be ready to pause its aggressive rate hike cycle but Canadians should not expect rates to start going back down any time soon.

After peaking at 8.1 per cent in July, Canada’s annual inflation rate has slowed to 6.9 per cent in October _ still well above the Bank of Canada’s target rate of two per cent.

Macklem’s speech will take place in Vancouver and will be hosted the Business Council of British Columbia.