OTTAWA - The election spotlight could shift today to Canada’s pandemic-ravaged economy and debt-laden federal finances as Statistics Canada reveals its consumer price index for July. The annual pace of inflation was 3.1 per cent in June, down from 3.6 per cent in May when the consumer price index posted its largest yearly increase in a decade. The inflation rate has exceeded the Bank of Canada’s target of two per cent since April and some economists expect it to creep as high as 3.9 per cent in the fall. However, some economists believe inflation could spike higher and last longer than Macklem suggests. And persistently high inflation would put pressure on the bank to increase interest rates, which would make it exponentially more costly for the federal government to carry its staggering debt load.

Source: thestar August 18, 2021 08:36 UTC