06:32 AM EDT, 09/19/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The Bank of Canada's Summary of deliberations ahead of policymakers' September rate decision states clearly that, if inflation continued to ease, rates were headed lower, said Desjardins.

As seen Tuesday, Canada's inflation has eased even more than Canada's central bank expected, noted Desjardins.

The BoC released Wednesday its Summary of Deliberations from the policy meeting of Sept. 4.

Members of the Governing Council agreed that they need to increasingly guard against the downside risks to inflation now, stated the bank. Policymakers said that, if the economy and labor market don't pick up as anticipated or weaken further, a faster pace of rate cuts could be appropriate.

So far, data for Q3 suggest that the economy and job market are underperforming the BoC's expectations. As a result, Desjardins is calling for a 50 basis point rate cut in October to expedite the process of normalizing monetary policy.

Markets didn't move much Wednesday on the news as the United States Federal Reserve announcement was set to be released a few minutes later, added the bank. However, Desjardins believes these communications are consistent with its forecast that Canadian central bankers will speed up the pace of easing in October.