BOC's Leduc in Quebec
- The economy is evolving largely as expected
- Q1 machinery imports bode well for investment growth
- Developments since April reinforce view that higher interest rates will be warranted to keep inflation near target
- Saw weak data to start the year but tenor of more recent data has been improved
- BOC sees trade uncertainty as a factor hurting business investment
- Labor market continues to improve
- Canadian economy is operating near its potential after challenging years in the wake of oil price shock
The point of these speeches is to give the BOC an opportunity to tweak the message after the market reacts to the statement but he doesn't appear to be trying to tweak anything today.
