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“If the global outlook improves, we would not be surprised to see the (Bank of Canada) considering raising rates again given at-target inflation, strong labour and housing markets, and a closing of the output gap,” Veronica Clark, an economist at Citibank, said.

The output gap is the difference between the Bank of Canada’s estimate of what the Canadian economy can produce without stoking inflation and the current level of output. The central bank said in its latest quarterly report on the economy that it thought the gap in the third quarter was between zero and minus one, or essentially closed. The new policy statement notes that inflation is expected to hover around the central bank’s two-per-cent target, “consistent with an economy operating near capacity.”

To be sure, the flicker of hope that the global economy has taken a turn for the better could prove ephemeral.

The trade wars had quieted as the bank’s Governing Council wrapped up its latest round of deliberations earlier this week. But in the past 48 hours, Donald Trump’s administration has threatened France with retaliatory tariffs and said it was scrapping an agreement that shielded Argentina and Brazil from steel levies. The U.S. president also said that an anticipated peace deal with China may not happen after all.

Stock markets tumbled from record highs as Trump opened new fronts in his trade wars, and then recovered somewhat on Dec. 4 after Bloomberg News reported that the U.S. and China were close to an agreement that would reduce some tariffs.