PrintNational Bank Sees Bank of Canada on Hold This Year Although It Notes Traders Now See Chance of A Cut
BY MT Newswires | ECONOMIC | 02/24/26 09:08 AM EST09:08 AM EST, 02/24/2026 (MT Newswires) -- With recent economic and inflation data cooling off, the pricing of 2026 rate hikes has been stopped, and traders now see a chance of a Bank of Canada cut this year, said National Bank of Canada.
But for National, the BoC is more likely to be sidelined all year as economic uncertainty and expecations around mixed data give the central bank conflicting signals.
While National Bank is skeptical about a cut in the near term, it concedes there's a path to easing if the USMCA trade deal review proves even more disruptive than thought, or if inflation pressures, which have been benign lately, continue to recede and move sustainably below 2%.
The next test on the state of the Canadian economy will come on Friday when the Q4 gross domestic product report is due to be released, noted the bank.
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