Premier Doug Ford is urging the Bank of Canada to refrain from raising interest rates ahead of its next interest rate announcement this week.
Ford recently posted a letter he wrote to Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem on X, formerly known as Twitter, to express his opposition to further interest hikes.
“Millions of Canadians, including here in Ontario, are already struggling to make ends meet,” he said on Sunday. “There is simply no excuse for increasing the already crushing pressure previous interest rate hikes have placed on so many families and businesses,” he continued.
This is the second letter Ford sent to Macklem after he sent the first one last month calling on the bank to stop raising interest rates. Ford’s latest letter also comes days before the bank is set to make an interest rate announcement on Wednesday.
In his letter, the premier went on to say that the impact of interest rate hikes over the last year and a half are “tangible, direct and growing.”
“While you have said that these crushing increases are necessary to combat inflation, that justification is wearing thin,” Ford wrote.
Last month, the central bank held its target for the overnight rate at five per cent, with the bank rate at 5.25 per cent and the deposit rate at five per cent.
“With recent evidence that excess demand in the economy is easing, and given the lagged effects of monetary policy, Governing Council decided to hold the policy interest rate at 5% and continue to normalize the Bank’s balance sheet,” the bank said after announcing its decision. “However, Governing Council remains concerned about the persistence of underlying inflationary pressures, and is prepared to increase the policy interest rate further if needed,” it added.
As of last March, the bank has increased interest rates 10 times.
In his letter, Ford acknowledged that it’s up to the federal government to work with provinces and territories to tackle the causes of inflation.
“I recognize that the tools you have to address inflation are limited, which is why I have also written to the Prime Minister asking him to work with all Premiers to address the root causes of inflation in a meaningful way,” he wrote.
The central bank is set to release its decision on the target for the overnight rate at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
