The Bank of Canada (BoC) has started to remove the ultra-loose monetary policy it set in response to Covid-19, hiking its policy rate 25 basis points to 0.5% today (March 2).

The central bank noted inflation, at 5.1% in January, was “well above” the 1–3% target band. It said the “unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russia is a major source of uncertainty” and is likely to put further upward pressure on prices. “The situation remains fluid and we are following events closely,” the policy statement