The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday, Jan. 20, edition that overall inflation rose to 2.4 per cent in December from 2.2 per cent, while the Bank of Canada's core measures slowed. The Post's Gigi Suhanic writes that this has left economists divided on whether the BOC should hold or cut rates, with market expectations shifting away from a rate hike. Statistics Canada credited the rise in the consumer price index (CPI) to the federal government's GST/HST holiday from mid-December, 2024, to mid-February, 2025, which reduced prices on certain items. Economists predicted inflation would remain steady at 2.2 per cent. Citigroup correctly called for CPI to rise to 2.4 per cent, while Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Montreal and Capital Economics had calls of 2.3 per cent. Markets had previously increased bets for the BOC's next move to be a hike, but those bets were trimmed back to about 43 per cent by year-end from 80 per cent. Bank of Montreal economist Douglas Porter says, "This was a mixed report, as some measures of core inflation eased to their slowest pace in years." He says the main takeaway from the CPI data is that "after a year of some wide divergences," most of the main measures of inflation are honing in on the BOC view for underlying inflation of 2.5 per cent this year.