As widely expected, the Bank of Canada left interest rates unchanged this morning.

The overnight rate, what the country’s big banks charge each other for overnight loans, remains 2.5%.

The Bank of Canada hasn’t raised rates since last fall. Today’s decision was the fifth in a row where the central bank has left the overnight rate unchanged.

“Global and Canadian economic data received since the last interest rate announcement on 12 April have been broadly in line with expectations,” the bank said in a statement. “The bank’s outlook for the Canadian economy through to the end of 2006 is unchanged from that in the April Monetary Policy Report.”

In April, the Bank of Canada lowered its estimate of how fast the Canadian economy will grow this year from 2.8% to 2.6%, citing the damage the strong dollar was exerting on exports.