Canada’s inflation rate falls to 2.8% | CBC News

Canada’s inflation rate fell to 2.8 per cent in June, it’s lowest level in more than two years.

Statistics Canada said a sharp decline in the price of gasoline compared to this time last year was the biggest reason for the drop. If gasoline is stripped out of the data, the inflation rate would have been four per cent.

On the other side of the ledger, food and mortgage costs were the biggest single factors pushing the rate higher. The cost of food continues to increase at a more than nine per cent pace. Mortgage interest costs, meanwhile, are up by more than 30 per cent in the past year.

The fresh inflation data comes just days after the Bank of Canada decided to hike its benchmark interest rate. The bank justified its decision by saying more tightening was needed to get inflation back to its two per cent target. The inflation rate peaked last June at 8.1 per cent, and was 3.4 per cent last month.

More to come.