ottawabank of canada gov tiff macklem said thursday that canadas high inflation rate is largely related to the unique circumstances of the covid19 pandemic although theres a risk it could be more persistent than policy makers had anticipated speaking at an event hosted by the council on foreign relations mr macklem said canadas annual inflation rate which came in at 41 in august is likely to remain above the central banks target range of 1 to 3 for the remainder of this year he said thats largely the result of yearago price changes and continued disruptions to global supply chains we are working through these supply disruptions but i will say they are proving more complicated they are continuing so there is some risk that theres a bit more persistence than wed previously thought mr macklem said still he added when you look at it there are good reasons to believe they are temporary mr macklem also hinted on thursday at a likely downgrade to the central banks forecast for economic growth during the second half of the year supply chain disruptions are weighing on canadas exports and some categories of household spending he said and have caused some firms to push back their investment plans what all that means is that the track for gross domestic product is probably a little bit slower than what we put out in july he said mr macklem added the central bank still anticipates a good rebound in gdp growth the bank of canadas next interestrate decision is due oct 27