In an interview with Rosemary Barton Live, Ms Freeland said she had to find a balance between helping people in Canada who are suffering from the effects of inflation and pursuing a policy of fiscal restraint, at the risk of aggravate the cost of living problem.
She has been open to further action on affordability issues, but believes that the measures already in place will reduce the impact on Canadians, according to the report.
“I have to find a balance. One is to support Canadians who have financial accessibility problems and the other is the budgetary restriction, because I do not want to make the work of the Bank of Canada more difficult than it already is,” Ms Freeland said, according to the report.
Asked about Canada’s ability to weather the global economic uncertainty, Ms. Freeland “maintained an optimistic tone”, saying “the challenge is not over, but I sincerely believe we will get through this together”, according to the report. .
Canada’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 7.7% in May, nearly a 40-year high, well above the Bank of Canada’s April forecast that it will would average 5.8% this quarter.
Ms Freeland has previously expressed confidence in the Bank of Canada’s ability to contain runaway inflation and prevent price gains from taking hold, but said there was no guarantee the economy would avoid a recession.