Macklem speech: There was clear consensus to hold policy rate at 5%

Tiff Macklem, Governor of the Bank of Canada (BoC), explains the BoC decision to leave the interest rate unchanged at 5% after the April policy meeting and responds to questions from the press.

Key quotes

"We did discuss when to reduce rates, there was clear consensus to hold it at 5%."

"There is some diversity of views in the Governing Council as to when we're going to see what we're looking for."

"Overall, C$ has been reasonably stable, if it does move we'll take that into account."

"Gas prices tend to go up and down. So that's one reason why we're particularly focused on core inflation."

Market reaction

USD/CAD clings to strong gains following these comments and was last seen trading at 1.3675, rising 0.75% on the day.