As I mentioned a moment ago, Canadians have become increasingly aware of price pressures, but this is, in fact, a global phenomenon. Indeed, sharp increases in inflation have been reported in both advanced and emerging-market economies in recent months. It is true that world prices of oil, natural gas, many minerals, and food products have eased in the past few weeks.
Nevertheless, earlier dramatic increases in the prices of these same commodities accounted for sharp increases in inflation. In many cases, these have been some of the highest rates of inflation observed in the past 10 to 15 years. It is important to note that inflation performance varies widely across countries.