The Bank of Canada (BoC) left its benchmark interest rates unchanged at 1.75 percent on Wednesday, as widely expected.

In its policy statement, the Canadian central bank said that Governing Council judged it appropriate to maintain the current level of the overnight rate target, adding that future interest rate decisions would be guided by the Bank’s continuing assessment of the adverse impact of trade conflicts against the sources of resilience in the Canadian economy - notably consumer spending and housing activity. Fiscal policy developments were also said to be figured into the Bank’s updated outlook in January.

The BoC noted that the ongoing trade conflicts and related uncertainty are still weighing on global economic activity, and remain the biggest source of risk to the outlook. In this context, commodity prices and the Canadian dollar have remained relatively stable, the Bank adds.