Canadian CPI Drops 0.1% Monthly, Annual Inflation Below Expectations at 1.3%, Loonie Weakens - 17.8.2012
The Consumer Price Index for Canada fell by 0.1% in July in monthly terms compared to 0.4% decrease in June, at the same time CPI in annual terms cooled down to 1.3% in July from 1.5% in June according to the Statistics of Canada. Economists were expecting the monthly CPI to increase by 0.2% and annual Inflation to remain the same at 1.5% however the readings were less than that.
Furthermore, according to Statcan higher prices of passenger vehicles, food, meat and electricity were the main drivers of inflation increase in July. The Core CPI which excludes the most volatile components in the 12 months to July rose less than expected, by 1.7%, compared to 2.0% increase in June according to the Bank of Canada. The Canadian dollar weakened after weaker inflation readings than forecasts, the USDCAD inched up from 0.9863 to 0.9898.