NDP leader calls for Bank of Canada mandate review as key rate holds steady

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says the federal government needs to review the mandate of the Bank of Canada to put people first.

Singh’s comment today comes as the bank holds its key interest rate steady at five per cent after raising it 10 times since March of last year.

Singh says while interest rates won’t rise, they’re still higher than they have been in the last 20 years.

Bank of Canada rates have taken on more of a political tone as Canadians struggle financially, with the Ontario and British Columbia premiers making direct appeals to the bank in recent days to not increase rates.

Ford tweeted today the decision to hold interest rates was “good.”

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the central bank’s decision is a “welcome relief for Canadians.”

The Canadian Press