The bank increased rates 10 times between March 2022 and this July, with inflation peaking at more than 8% last year. Macklem said the BoC would be looking for "clear evidence" inflation is heading toward the bank's 2% target before it would cut interest rates. "If we can get inflation down, interest rates can come down from where they are. They're probably not going back to where they were pre-COVID," Macklem said on the CBC's "The Current" morning radio show. The BoC's key overnight rate was 1.75% at the start of 2020, before being rapidly slashed to 0.25% when the pandemic hit.
