Bank of Canada sees sharply higher inflation outlook as oil surges, Macklem says

By Promit Mukherjee OTTAWA, Oct 17 (Reuters) The Bank of Canada expects to raise its quarterly inflation forecast significantly this month owing to persistently high crude oil and petroleum ​product prices, Governor Tiff Macklem said on Saturday. New ‌quarterly inflation and growth forecasts will feed into the BoC s rate decision on October 28. With the (Middle East) conflict ongoing, shipments still curtailed and refinery capacity damage, the risk that inflation broadens and becomes more persistent has gone up, ‌Macklem ​told journalists on a conference call from ⁠Bangkok. Our beacon is our ⁠2% inflation target, and we are committed to keeping inflation close to target over time. We are prepared to adjust monetary policy as needed. Money market expectations of an increase in ​rates have been growing in the last few months but, as of Saturday, markets were not pricing in any ⁠change on October 28 or at the ⁠bank s last monetary policy decision of the year ​in December. However, t