Signage marks the Statistics Canada offices in Ottawa on July 21, 2010. Statistics Canada is set to release its gross domestic product figures for the month of March, as well as the first quarter of the year.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada is set to release today its latest reading on how the economy fared in March, as well as for the first quarter of the year.
The federal agency’s preliminary estimate suggested real gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 2.5 per cent during the first three months of 2023.
However, after posting slight growth in February, Statistics Canada’s initial estimate released last month suggested the economy contracted by 0.1 per cent in March.
The GDP report comes ahead of the Bank of Canada’s interest rate decision next week.
The central bank, which is focused on returning inflation to its two per cent target, paused its aggressive rate hiking cycle earlier this year.
However, governor Tiff Macklem has signalled that the Bank of Canada is still evaluating whether interest rates need to go higher to tame inflation which ticked higher in April.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2023.
