The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that the Bank of Canada is likely to raise interest rates at its next two meetings as the Middle East conflict creates the risk of broader price pressures, a senior macro strategist at Manulife Financial said. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that strategist Dominique Lapointe wrote in a report, "Inflation dynamics are changing." Core measures of inflation "have grown close to 3 per cent month-over-month annualized for two consecutive months. While this momentum cannot be tied to Iran-related supply chains, the prolonged state of the conflict makes it increasingly likely that so-called 'second-round' effects will eventually show up in core goods prices." Mr. Lapointe also pointed to the low likelihood of further escalation by Canada in the trade war with the United States, which he said is "likely to be reassuring" to the central bank. Higher tariffs and trade barriers have created hardship for specific Canadian industries such as steel and autos. But they haven't resulted in a recession or a broad rise in unemployment, and economic growth bounced back sharply in the second quarter.