Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem has suggested the federal budget presented last month wouldn’t have much of an effect on inflation.
Since last summer, the governing Liberals have been pummelled by Conservatives in public opinion polls over cost-of-living issues.
Rapidly rising grocery prices have been a top concern, in particular.
And while food prices are significantly higher than they were a few years ago, the data shows grocery prices grew at a modest pace in April, rising 1.4% from a year ago.
Meanwhile, higher gasoline prices moderated the deceleration in inflation last month, with pump prices rising 6.1% year-over-year.
Excluding gasoline, prices were up 2.5% from a year ago.
“I think what’s really the most encouraging is that we saw continued softness in some of the core measures that the Bank of Canada is looking at when it’s looking to judge when and how quickly to cut interest rates,” Grantham said in an interview.
The Bank of Canada’s core measures of inflation, which strip out volatile prices, slowed last month and are all now below 3%.
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