OTTAWA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Canada's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 4.3 percent year over year in March, following a 5.2 percent increase in February. This was the smallest increase since August 2021, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.
As a result of the steep monthly increase in prices in March 2022, base-year effects, notably gasoline prices, continued to have a strong downward impact on consumer inflation, contributing to the year-over-year deceleration in March 2023, the national statistical agency said.
Excluding food and energy, prices were up 4.5 percent year over year in March, following a 4.8 percent gain in February, while the all-items CPI excluding mortgage interest cost rose 3.6 percent, after increasing 4.7 percent in February, the agency said.
According to the agency, on a monthly basis, the CPI was up 0.5 percent in March, following a 0.4 percent gain in February. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.1 percent.
While headline inflation has slowed in recent months, having increased 1.7 percent in March compared with 6 months ago, prices remain elevated. Compared with 18 months ago, inflation has increased 8.7 percent, Statistics Canada said.
Tiff Macklem, governor of Bank of Canada, said on Tuesday that several things still have to happen to get inflation all the way back to the 2 percent target: inflation expectations have to come down further, services price inflation and wage growth need to moderate, and corporate pricing behaviour has to normalize.
Last week, the central bank maintained the policy rate at 4.5 percent, with an aim to return inflation to the 2 percent target next year.
