Bank of Canada says rates may have to remain restrictive for longer

OTTAWA, April 12 (Reuters) – Interest rates in Canada may have to stay restrictive for longer to ensure inflation declines to the Bank of Canada’s 2% target, Governor Tiff Macklem said on Wednesday.

Macklem, speaking after the bank announced that it was holding its key rate at 4.50%, said the central bank’s governing council had discussed whether rates had been raised enough.

Macklem said that while the bank was encouraged inflation was dropping, the job of monetary policy was not done.

“We considered the likelihood that the policy rate may need to remain restrictive for longer to return inflation to the 2% target,” he said.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren, editing by Steve Scherer)

((Reuters Ottawa bureau, david.ljunggren@tr.com))

Keywords: CANADA CENBANK/MACKLEM