Inflation was still high in October, the bank said in announcing its decision to keep making borrowing more expensive. That’s despite its rapid interest-rate hikes since the start of 2022—from 0.25 per cent to 4.25 per cent now. (The Logic)

Talking point: In the third quarter, “the economy continued to operate in excess demand” and the job market remained tight, which means more squeezing as the central bank tries to get inflation back to about two per cent from its recent peak of 8.1 per cent. Expecting economic growth to stall from now until mid-2023, the Bank of Canada’s governing council “will be considering whether the policy interest rate needs to rise further to bring supply and demand back into balance and return inflation to target,” the announcement said. That’s a significant change of tone from its last interest-rate revision in October, when the bank said it expected that “the policy interest rate will need to rise further.”