China News Agency, Toronto, February 22 (Reporter Yu Ruidong) Official data show that inflationary pressures in Canada continue to slow down.

According to data released by the Canadian Bureau of Statistics on the 21st, the country's consumer price index (CPI) in January 2023 rose by 5.9% year-on-year, which was lower than the 6.3% increase in December last year.

　　Statistics Canada said a correction in cellphone service and passenger vehicle prices was the main reason for the slowdown in CPI.

Still, mortgage interest costs and food prices are still climbing.

　　Mortgage interest costs rose 21.2 percent year-on-year in January, the highest since September 1982, amid a high interest rate environment.

Food prices rose 10.4 percent in January, slightly higher than the increase in December last year.

Prices for meat, baked goods, dairy products, fresh vegetables and more are all accelerating.

　　From a month-on-month perspective, the CPI increased by 0.5% in January this year, compared with a decrease of 0.6% in December last year.

Gasoline, mortgage interest costs and meat prices are the biggest contributors to CPI monthly growth.

　　The Canadian Bureau of Statistics reminds that when analyzing the year-on-year data, attention should be paid to the impact of the high base of the same period last year.

In the first half of 2022, under the influence of the Ukraine crisis, Canada's CPI will increase significantly.

Although inflation has slowed in recent months, the price level remains high.

　　Last year, Canada's CPI rose by an average of 6.8% year-on-year, the highest increase in 40 years.

The country's central bank raised interest rates eight times in a row from March last year to late January this year, accumulatively raising interest rates by 425 basis points.

The Bank of Canada believes that the rate hike measures adopted so far have worked.

In the context of judging that core inflation has peaked, this round of continuous interest rate hikes is expected to come to an end.

The Bank of Canada also expects the country's inflation rate to fall to about 3% by the middle of this year and fall back to its 2% target next year.

(over)