OTTAWA, Jan 29 (Reuters) – The Bank of Canada on Wednesday cut its growth forecasts for both 2025 and 2026, citing the dampening effect of government policies designed to curb population growth.
The forecasts, released in the quarterly monetary policy report, do not take into account the potential economic blow from U.S. tariffs.
The bank said 2025 growth would be 1.8%, down from the 2.1% it forecast in October. Growth in 2026 will also be 1.8%, down from 2.3%.
Annual inflation in 2025 will average 2.3%, up from 2.2% in October, due to less excess supply, stronger oil prices and higher import prices resulting from the lower Canadian dollar.
Inflation in 2026 is seen averaging 2.1%, up from 2.0% the bank forecast in October.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren, editing by Promit Mukherjee)
((Reuters Ottawa bureau, david.ljunggren@tr.com))
Keywords: CANADA CENBANK/FORECASTS
