The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, March 19, edition that February's report showed the Canadian economy lost 84,000 jobs, sparking speculation that the Bank of Canada might cut its policy rate. The Globe's guest columnists Jeffrey Kronick and Steve Ambler write that however, due to five months of inflation above 2 per cent, high food prices, and rising oil and gas costs due to the war in Iran, the BOC decided to maintain its interest rate at 2.25 per cent. The guest columnists says this was the right decision. The BOC may not keep the policy rate unchanged as it considers various demand- and supply-side factors, their durations and their impact on inflation expectations. Key uncertainties include the length of the war in Iran and the outcome of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement review. The surge in energy prices has not yet fed into official inflation figures, but it will next month. This is a classic supply-side effect, and so the question becomes how long it will last. The longer it does last, the more it will feed into costs at all stages of the production process, from planting new crops to keeping goods on store shelves. In turn, this could destabilize inflation expectations.