Inflationary pressures in Canada eased considerably last month, putting into question expectations that the Bank of Canada will raise interest rates in a few weeks.
Statistics Canada reported Friday that Canada's annual inflation rate slipped by 0.2 percentage points to 1.4 percent in March. The Bank of Canada's core rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 1.7 percent.
Canada's central bank recently cited inflationary risks for dropping its year-old conditional pledge to leave interest rates at record lows until at least July after the core rate reached as high as 2.1 percent in February.
The agency says the main reason for the drop in both indexes was that when the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games ended in February, it ceased being a major contributor to inflation.