(Reuters) -Canada’s annual inflation rate accelerated again in February to hit a fresh 30-year high at 5.7%, driven by phone, gas and food costs, Statistics Canada data showed on Wednesday.
The figure is the highest since 6.0% recorded in August 1991.
The increase beat analysts forecasts of a rise to 5.5% in February. It was the 11th consecutive month in which headline inflation topped the Bank of Canada’s 1% to 3% control range.
While price increases were broad-based, Canadian motorists paid 32.3% more at the pump in February, compared with the previous year, Statscan said.
The central bank, increasingly concerned about spiking prices, hiked rates for the first time in more than three years earlier this month and said it was prepared to act aggressively if needed to keep inflation expectations grounded.
The CPI common measure, which the central bank says is the best gauge of the economy’s underperformance, rose to 2.6% from 2.3% in January.
The Canadian dollar extended gains and touched 1.2689 to the U.S. dollar after the data were released, or 78.81 U.S. cents.
(Reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa and Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto; editing by Jason Neely and Chizu Nomiyama)
