The Financial Post reports in its Friday, Feb. 16, edition that the Bank of Canada is closely monitoring core inflation as it considers the timing of interest rate cuts. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that mixed measures, however, give the BOC flexibility, clouding the outlook for economists and markets. The BOC has no less than six indexes it monitors. Governor Tiff Macklem has pushed back against focus on a specific indicator, describing core inflation as more of a "concept." While that reflects the bank's need for certainty before declaring victory over inflation, it can also limit transparency -- there is no lodestar key to policy-makers' thinking that would compel them to cut. CIBC economist Benjamin Tal says: "The bank can always find a number to suit its narrative. You never know on which side of the bed they'll wake up." Core inflation measures are important guideposts for economists -- they are meant to strip out more extreme price fluctuations to provide a better sense of where price pressures are headed. Food and energy, for example, are volatile goods with month-to-month changes that do not necessarily represent the broader inflation trends.