Bank of Canada says it must communicate clearly on inflation

(Reuters) – The Bank of Canada’s senior deputy governor, Carolyn Rogers (NYSE:), says the current period of high inflation has focused the central bank’s efforts to communicate clearly and concisely, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported late on Friday.

The Bank of Canada has been trying to simplify its public outreach for a number of years, publishing videos and plain-language explainers of monetary policy.

“The best way to keep Canadians’ expectations on inflation low is to get inflation back to target,” Rogers told the Globe and Mail. “But in the meantime, we think that the more Canadians understand what we’re doing, and why we’re doing it, the more trust they’ll build in the Bank of Canada.”

The Bank of Canada hiked interest rates to 3.25% from 2.50% earlier this month, to their highest level in 14 years, and signaled its most aggressive tightening campaign in decades was not yet done as it battles to tame inflation.

“The scenario that we’re worried about is that Canadians look at the current rate of inflation, they think it’s here to stay, they start incorporating that thinking into long-term decision making,” the newspaper quoted Rogers as saying in a news conference after the rate hike.