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Ottawa, Canada — Canadian inflation fell 0.1 percentage points to 1.8 percent in December as a brief sales tax holiday on selected consumer goods kicked off, the government statistical agency said Tuesday.
play666Canadians paid less in the month as a result of the Goods and Services Tax break for alcohol, food, clothing, shoes, toys and other items, according to Statistics Canada data.
Article continues after this advertisementGasoline prices and travel costs rose, the agency said.
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And rent prices and mortgage costs went up but at a slower pace than the previous month.
In a statement on Monday, GSIS said the transport hub dubbed as ‘Project Hub’, will be located at the corner of the Elliptical Road and Commonwealth Avenue.
Article continues after this advertisementCIBC analyst Andrew Grantham noted that without the tax change, inflation would have been around 2.3 percent.
Article continues after this advertisementCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s liberal government brought in the tax relief, saying Canadians facing high costs of living deserved a respite.
Article continues after this advertisementBut the move was harshly criticized by his finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, as a “costly political gimmick” that the country could “ill afford” ahead of possible US tariffs on Canadian imports promised by President Donald Trump.
Freeland resigned in protest, triggering a political crisis that led to Trudeau announcing his pending departure too.
Article continues after this advertisementGrantham noted in a research note that there are “a lot of moving pieces and temporary factors playing out in the inflation data at the moment.”
Despite this volatility, most economists said they expect the Bank of Canada to further cut its key lending rate at the end of January.
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