OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Bank of Canada saw some choppiness in growth in the second quarter of 2021 following a sharp economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic at the start of the year, Governor Tiff Macklem said on Wednesday.
Macklem told the Canadian Senate’s banking committee that a complete recovery would still take some time and described the third wave of the coronavirus as a setback.
“Following a sharp bounce back in economic activity in the fall and winter, we’ve seen choppiness in growth again in the second quarter of 2021,” he said.
Last year, the central bank slashed its key interest rate to a record-low 0.25% and Macklem reiterated it would stay there at least until economic slack had been fully absorbed, which should be some time in the second half of 2022.
“The economic recovery is making good progress … (but) a complete recovery will still take some time. The third wave of the virus has been a setback,” he said.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren and Julie Gordon; Editing by Leslie Adler and Peter Cooney)
