Canada’s dollar was little changed after a report showed the annual rate of inflation excluding volatile items such as gasoline slowed. Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers began talks in Gyeongju, South Korea, today after weeks of wrangling over whether nations from the U.S. to China are relying on weaker exchange rates to spur growth. “The inflation data fell short of expectations and won’t change the Bank of Canada’s soft money policy, so there is little market reaction,” said Jack Spitz, managing director of foreign exchange at National Bank of Canada in Toronto. “The G- 20 continues to dominate the currency landscape.” The Canadian dollar traded at C$1.0258 per U.S. dollar at 7:37 a.m. in Toronto, compared with C$1.0267 yesterday. One Canadian dollar buys 97.49 U.S. cents. The loonie was headed for a 1.5 percent weekly decline after reaching parity with the greenback on Oct. 14 for the first time since April. The currency fell the most in three months on Oct. 19, when the Bank of Canada held the benchmark overnight rate at 1 percent and said the economy will take an extra year to reach its full potential. The core annual pace of inflation excluding eight volatile items slowed to 1.5 percent in September from 1.6 percent in the previous month. The rate won’t reach policy makers’ 2 percent target until the end of 2012, the Bank of Canada said Oct. 19. To contact the reporter on this story: Cordell Eddings in New York at ceddings@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net

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