The Bank of Canada’s governor said on March 3 that the previous day’s 25-basis points policy rate rise was “the first step on the path to higher interest rates”.

The Bank of Canada’s governing council lowered interest rates to 0.25% in March 2020, and kept them at that level until its most recent meeting.

He also said that, after the first policy rate rise, ending the central bank’s reinvestment of purchased assets and shrinking its balance sheet “would be a natural next step”. But he did not