Canadian businesses still face rising inflation, costs of inputs: Report

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Canadian businesses continue to expect a number of obstacles during the April-June period of this year, primarily rising inflation and increasing costs of inputs, the country's statistical authority said Monday in a report.

"The pressures of labour-related obstacles on businesses have risen in the second quarter from the first quarter, while cost-related obstacles have continued to ease in recent quarters," Statistics Canada said in the report. "Meanwhile, the outlook of businesses has gradually improved since the fourth quarter of 2023."

The North American country's real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.8% in February on an annual basis, while consumer inflation annually came in at 2.7% in April, slowing down from a 2.9% year-on-year gain in March, the agency said.

Prices of raw materials purchased by manufacturers operating in Canada rose 4.7% in March from the previous month, and they were up 0.8% on an annual basis, it added.

"The leading challenge businesses expect to face in the second quarter is rising inflation," said the report, which is expected by 54.4% of all businesses.

The second most-expected obstacle is rising costs of inputs with 44.6%, which includes labor, capital, energy and raw materials, it added.