Canada’s inflation rate accelerated in March
Consumer prices rose 3.3 % from a year earlier after a 2.2 % gain in February. Prices were up 1.1 % on a monthly basis, both figures exceeded market estimations of 2.8 % for annual inflation and 0.6 % for the monthly figure.
BoC (Banque Of Canada) said inflation would reach 3 % by June mainly driven by temporary factors such as energy costs and higher provincial sales taxes. The core inflation rate which excludes items such as gasoline accelerated to 1.7 % from a year earlier in March from February’s record low 0.9 %.
Monthly core prices accelerated to 0.7 % from 0.2 % in February and economists forecast core inflation of 1.2 % annually and of 0.2 % on a monthly basis.
Energy prices rose 12.8 % in March from a year earlier, and the cost of fuel oil and other fuels jumped 31.3 %.
