BoC mandate should expand beyond inflation, NDP’s Singh says ahead of interest rate decision
Global News
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling for an expanded mandate for the Bank of Canada to include protecting against job losses as well as fighting inflation.
The Bank of Canada must remain independent but should also look to minimize job losses in a possible recession, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Tuesday, clarifying recent comments on the role of the central bank.
Singh told reporters Tuesday that the central bank’s aggressive interest rate hikes aimed at tackling high inflation fail to protect workers.
The bank’s policy rate has jumped three percentage points this year and is expected to rise again on Wednesday. Rising interest rates intentionally take steam out of the economy in hopes of lowering demand and easing inflation, but come alongside growing calls for a possible recession next year as the global economic picture darkens.
“The aggressive sharp increase in interest rates does mean people are going to hurt. Put bluntly, it’s going to mean a very likely recession where hundreds of thousands of Canadians are going to lose their jobs,” Singh said Tuesday.
His comments come following media interviews over the weekend in which he criticized the central bank’s approach to tackling inflation.
The leader of the federal NDP told CTV’s Question Period on Sunday that there is “absolutely no merit” to the Bank of Canada’s rate-hike strategy as Canadian wages have not kept pace with surging price growth, as was the case in previous inflationary periods.
Singh clarified Tuesday that the NDP “believe fundamentally in the institution’s independence” but called for an expansion to the government-set mandate for the central bank.
“The inflation target alone can’t be the mandate. It should also consider maximum employment,” he said.
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