The Bank of Canada’s modest rate increase on March 2 will do little to stem inflation, say analysts, who expect more rate hikes later this year. The BoC’s increase of 0.25 basis points to arrest increasing inflation brought the rate to 0.5 percent. The hike was widely expected by analysts, even though it’s earlier than the mid-2022 date the bank touted throughout 2021. “As the economy continues to expand and inflation pressures remain elevated, the Governing Council expects interest rates will need to rise further,” according to the central bank’s March 2 press release announcing the rate hike. Former economics professor Steve Ambler, a fellow-in-residence with the C.D. Howe Institute, says it’s now plainly evident that higher inflation was not a passing “transitory” phenomenon. “It’s just a gradual recognition or realization that people and the bank itself got their predictions all wrong in terms of how high inflation was going to …