By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA--The Middle East conflict has sharply lifted Canadian firms' inflation expectations, and triggered worries among executives about their inability to pass on higher costs to customers, according to a pair of Bank of Canada quarterly surveys.
Households, meanwhile, have already cancelled holiday plans and postponed spending on big-ticket items due to worries the war in Iran will weaken the Canadian economy and lead to elevated price increases, the central bank survey suggested.
The bulk of the research for the quarterly Bank of Canada surveys gauging business and consumer sentiment was done in February. Central bank analysts conducted interviews in March after the outbreak of war in Iran, which led to a surge in energy prices. Earlier Monday, Statistics Canada reported that gasoline prices in March rose just over 21%, or a record month-over-month increase.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-20-26 1145ET
