OTTAWA (Reuters) – Tiff Macklem, in his first public appearance as governor of the Bank of Canada, said on Tuesday that the central bank would provide an updated assessment of the outlook for output and inflation at its July rate decision.
“Given the unknown course of the pandemic, I expect this will be more of a scenario than a forecast and will also include a discussion of the key risks,” he said in his opening remarks to a parliamentary committee.
Macklem, who officially took over on June 3, also said that while job growth was expected to accelerate across Canada as more businesses reopen, not all jobs lost to COVID-19 shutdowns would return. Canada has lost millions of jobs since March and the unemployment rate hit a record high in May.
“For now and the foreseeable future, we are focused on providing monetary stimulus and delivering low interest rates to support the recovery,” Macklem told the committee.
Macklem will preside over the July 15 rate decision, officially his first. The Bank of Canada held its key rate steady in a decision earlier this month, after it slashed rates three times to a record-low 0.25% in March.
The Canadian dollar was little changed at 1.3570 to the U.S. dollar, or 74.24 U.S. cents. Money markets do not expect further rate moves this year. [BOCWATCH]
(Reporting by Julie Gordon, Kelsey Johnson and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Additional reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto; Editing by Peter Cooney)
