How big will the interest rate cut be this week by the Bank of Canada? [Video]

Forecasters expect the Bank of Canada to speed up the pace of interest rate cuts and lower its policy rate by half a percentage point this week.

The central bank’s interest rate announcement on Wednesday comes after Statistics Canada reported the annual inflation rate in September tumbled to 1.6 per cent — below the Bank of Canada’s two per cent inflation target.

Nathan Janzen, an assistant chief economist at RBC, said the latest consumer price index report reinforced his expectation for a supersized rate cut.

“(You) have an economy that’s probably performing worse than necessary to get inflation under control and still interest rates (are) at restrictive territory. So that makes it a pretty straightforward argument to continue cutting interest rates,” Janzen said, adding that the central bank needs to lower interest rates to a level that doesn’t hinder economic growth.

After the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cut last …