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BMO on The Day, Week Ahead in Canada

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-- The US dollar (USD) is softer (BBDXY -0.25%) with the Canadian dollar (CAD or loonie) firmer (CAD per USD -0.44%) early Monday, said Bank of Montreal (BMO).

The Bank of Canada will release its policy statement on Wednesday, together with the new Monetary Policy Report (MPR). The BoC is expected to keep rates unchanged, noted the bank.

The BoC will also release its latest MPR with updated estimates for potential growth -- in the low-1% range -- and the neutral rate, seen in the 2.25%-to-3.25% range, stated BMO.

Also on this week's Canadian docket there is Tuesday's Spring Economic Update from the Canadian government, which will refresh the estimates published in the November FY26/27 budget. There seems to be some fiscal upside compared with the budget's original $65.4 billion deficit, pointed out the bank.

On Thursday, BMO expects real gross domestic product growth to accelerate another tenth to 0.2% month over month in February, in line with Statistics Canada's flash estimate. The March flash estimate will be one to watch as it will capture the initial reaction to the outbreak of the Iran war.

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