Bank of Canada says its too early to cut rates. Heres what to expect – National [Video]

The Bank of Canada left its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Wednesday and signalled it’s still too soon to ease monetary policy despite recent cooling in inflation.

The central bank’s policy rate held at 5.0 per cent in the fifth consecutive decision, with the hold widely expected by economists.

The head of the Bank of Canada also said that it’s “too early” to cut interest rates until there’s more progress in taming core inflation, according to prepared remarks from Governor Tiff Macklem.

There have been “no big surprises” in the economic data since the central bank’s hold in January, he said, but underlying price pressures are “persisting.”

“We’ve come a long way in our fight against high inflation. Monetary policy is working—inflation is coming down. But it’s too early to loosen the restrictive policy that has gotten us this far,” Macklem said in his remarks.

“The assessment of governing council is that we …