The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, May 3, edition that Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem has cautioned that interest rates are unlikely to return to the low levels seen in the decade before the pandemic. The Globe's Mark Rendell writes that borrowing costs are expected to decline slowly as inflation gradually moves back toward the BOC's target over the next year. On Thursday, Mr. Macklem said he is becoming more confident that inflation is moving in the right direction and that it may soon be appropriate to begin lowering the bank's highly restrictive policy rate. However, he dampened hopes of a rapid decline in borrowing costs. In response to a question about whether Canadians needed a "reality check" on the trajectory of monetary policy, Mr. Macklem said: "Interest rates are certainly not going back to the emergency-low levels we had during COVID. They're unlikely even to go back to the preCOVID levels." He also mentioned that inflation is slowly coming down as per the current forecast. Even when the bank starts reducing rates, it is likely to be a gradual process. The Globe says financial markets are pricing in a 60-per-cent chance the BOC starts easing monetary policy at its next meeting in June.