The Financial Post reports in its Friday, May 22, edition that the Bank of Canada may be forced to cut interest rates to zero in the next six to 18 months as a rising Canadian dollar threatens the economic recovery, says Fidelity Investments' David Wolf. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that rebounding oil prices have spurred Canada's currency to the biggest rally among Group of 10 nations versus the United States dollar in the last three months. Continued appreciation will endanger the non-commodity export revival BOC Governor Stephen Poloz is counting on to lead the economic recovery, and will probably prompt him to join global peers in cutting the benchmark interest rate to zero, says Mr. Wolf, a former Bank of Canada adviser. Mr. Wolf says: "I wouldn't be surprised if rates here end up where they are everywhere else in the developed world, which is basically at zero. ... I'm not really thinking recession here but I'm sure thinking sluggish growth." The BOC's benchmark rate on overnight loans is 0.75 per cent, and the next meeting to decide monetary policy is scheduled for May 27. Bloomberg says Mr. Wolf 's prediction goes against the consensus calls of both economists and the market.