The Bank of Canada’s top decision makers signalled they likely would have hit pause on the interest rate easing cycle earlier this month if not for the substantial uncertainty around tariffs from the United States.
That’s according to the central bank’s summary of deliberations released Wednesday, which offers a look at how governing council arrived at its March 12 decision to cut the policy rate by a quarter-point to 2.75 per cent.
Those high-level discussions paint a picture of the Bank of Canada governors attempting to set monetary policy during a complex and fluid situation.
The rate decision came a little over a week after the Trump administration levied its first round of blanket tariffs on Canadian goods entering the country and the same day Canada’s largest trading partner launched a new wave of tariffs targeting steel and aluminum imports.
Those trade restrictions have been scaled back or adjusted multiple …