Rate cuts could be in the cards for 2024, but BoC sees housing market as a risk – National [Video]

The Bank of Canada’s governing council seems to be growing in confidence that the central bank will be able to lower its benchmark interest rate sometime this year, but newly released documents show there’s concern among monetary policymakers about risks to their outlook.

The Bank of Canada on Wednesday released a copy of the deliberations from its March 6 interest rate decision, when it held the policy rate steady at 5.0 per cent for the fifth time in a row.

Officials at the Bank of Canada have been mum about a timeline on when the central bank can start to lower the cost of borrowing, but governor Tiff Macklem has acknowledged that rates probably don’t need to move higher amid signs the economy is slowing and inflation is coming back under control.

In debating its March 6 decision, the governing council agreed that if the economy continues to evolve “in line with the Bank’s projection, …