Statistics Canada set to release its March inflation report – National

Statistics Canada will release its latest reading on inflation Tuesday morning.

The agency will publish its consumer price index for March.

Statistics Canada reported last month that the annual pace of inflation cooled to 2.8 per cent in February compared with 2.9 per cent in January.

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Bank of Canada holds key interest rate steady at 5%

The inflation report will be scrutinized by the Bank of Canada which kept its key interest rate target on hold last week at five per cent, but said it is “within the realm of possibilities” that it could cut interest rates in June.

The central bank has said it is seeing what it needs to see, but needs to see it for longer to be confident that progress toward price stability will be sustained.

The inflation report comes as the federal government prepares to release its budget later this afternoon.