Statistics Canada set to report March inflation data

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada is set to report fresh inflation data for March this morning.

Economists are widely expecting higher gas prices from the Iran war oil shock will drive a jump in the headline inflation figure.

A Reuters poll shows economists expect the annual rate of inflation to accelerate to 2.5 per cent in March, from 1.8 per cent in February, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

RBC senior economist Claire Fan says the headline inflation rate would have come in even higher, but the federal government’s move to kill the consumer carbon price last year is still taking some steam out of the annual price comparisons.