OTTAWA—Canada’s annual inflation rate surged to 3.0 percent in July, its highest level in nearly seven years, raising expectations that the Bank of Canada might raise interest rates again as soon as next month and pushing the Canadian dollar higher.
The inflation rate, which last eclipsed 3.0 percent in September 2011, was much stronger than the 2.5 percent forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll. Inflation in June was 2.5 percent.
