OTTAWA—The Bank of Canada on Wednesday held its key overnight interest rate unchanged, as expected, and said inflation was broadening even as it warned that the Omicron coronavirus variant has created “renewed uncertainty.”
The central bank, in a regular rate decision, left its key overnight interest rate at 0.25 percent and maintained guidance that economic slack would be absorbed in the “middle quarters” of 2022, setting the stage for a first rate hike as soon as April.
