The Bank of Canada likely won’t raise interest rates until July, says HSBC Securities (Canada).

In the wake of this week’s decision on interest rates and monetary policy report, the firm is pushing out its call for a March rate hike until July.

In a research note, HSBC says that the BoC’s post-meeting statement Tuesday “suggested there was little interest” at the central bank in changing its rate posture in the very near term, and this was reiterated in Wednesday’s monetary policy report.

“Regarding the timing of potential policy changes at the BoC, we believe the primary driver will be the evolution in the net trade story, which has the potential to significantly affect excess supply in the economy,” HSBC says.

The firm adds that while the situation in Europe will continue to inject uncertainty into the BoC’s outlook; “in terms of policy impact, it is worth recalling that the rising sovereign debt crisis in the summer of 2010 did little to deter the BoC from hiking rates in June, July, and September of that year.”

While the rate hikes aren’t expected to start until the summer, the firm is maintaining its year-end rate forecast unchanged at 2%.