The Bank of Canada will hold its key policy rate at the current level of 4.5% until the end of this year and will start cutting rates in January 2024, Canada's independent budgetary watchdog forecast on Thursday. The central bank has raised rates at a record pace over the past year to tame inflation that hit a four-decade high of 8.1% in June. After its last hike in January, the Bank of Canada became the first major central bank fighting global inflation to say it would likely "pause" further moves as long as prices continue to come down as it has forecast.