Bank of Canada Holds Key Interest Rate at 5 Percent

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem holds a press conference in Ottawa on April 12, 2023. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

The Bank of Canada is holding its benchmark interest rate at 5 percent for the sixth consecutive time since July, saying it needs to see evidence that “downward momentum” in inflation is sustained before it will cut rates.

Although inflation remains high and “risks remain,” the central bank said it has begun to see the economic conditions necessary to convince it to drop interest rates.