Advertisement

Annual inflation rate virtually flat in July at 0.1%

Click to play video: 'Coronavirus: Bank of Canada Governor says COVID-19 created ‘unprecedented fall in economic activity’'
Coronavirus: Bank of Canada Governor says COVID-19 created ‘unprecedented fall in economic activity’
The Governor of the Bank of Canada Tiff Macklem provided an update on Canada's economic outlook on Wednesday, sharing his belief that the COVID-19 pandemic has created an "unprecedented fall in economic activity in Canada." Macklem says Canada is facing "many uncertainties" due to the pandemic and that they cannot forecast with the usual degree of accuracy, but instead provided a "central economic scenario" for the country going forward – Jul 15, 2020

Statistics Canada says the consumer price index was up 0.1 per cent compared with a year ago, as gasoline prices were down nearly 15 per cent. Excluding the drop in gasoline prices, the inflation barometer would have increased at an annual rate of 0.7 per cent, matching the same reading for June.

Financial news and insights delivered to your email every Saturday.

READ MORE: Bank of Canada keeps key rate at 0.25%, sees 7.8% GDP drop this year

The average economist estimate had been for a year-over-year increase of 0.5 per cent for July, according to financial data firm Refinitiv. The statistics agency says the slower pace of price growth was broad-based, spanning goods and services.

Statistics Canada says air travel prices fell in July by 8.6 per cent, the first year-over-year decline since December 2015. It says the result was due to airlines offering incentives for people to travel again, including reduced fees, discounts and promotions even as many flights remained cancelled or suspended because of the pandemic.

Advertisement

Sponsored content

AdChoices