By Chris Fournier and Inyoung Hwang March 25 (Bloomberg) -- The Canadian dollar rose as Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney signaled he’s open to increasing interest rates as soon as the central bank’s June 1 meeting as inflation and growth outpace forecasts. Canada’s currency increased as crude oil, the nation’s biggest export, and U.S. stock-index futures rose. Carney said yesterday the bank’s pledge to keep borrowing costs unchanged at a record low 0.25 percent through June was “expressly conditional” on the outlook for prices, strengthening earlier language. “Carney’s use of ‘expressly’ seems to have put the June meeting slightly more in play,” said Firas Askari, head currency trader in Toronto at Bank of Montreal. “Risk is back on. Equities are up, crude is up slightly.” The Canadian currency, known as the loonie, rose 0.6 percent to C$1.0202 at 8:38 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.0268 yesterday. One Canadian dollar buys 98.07 U.S. cents. The loonie yesterday declined the most in a month as sovereign debt concerns drove investors to the perceived safety of the U.S. dollar. Crude oil for May delivery increased 0.4 percent and futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 0.4 percent. The loonie tends to follow movements in stocks and commodities. Crude oil is Canada’s largest export. Canada’s currency reached C$1.0062 on March 19, the strongest level since July 23, 2008, after Statistics Canada reported that the so-called core inflation rate was half a percentage point higher than policy makers forecast, spurring investors to increase bets on the pace of the central bank’s rate increases. A June increase by Canada could be the first among the Group of Seven industrialized nations this year. Carney said he will set policy with an eye toward meeting Canada’s 2 percent inflation target, regardless of the timing of interest-rate increases in the U.S. --Editors: James Holloway, To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Fournier in Montreal at cfournier3@bloomberg.net Inyoung Hwang in New York at ihwang7@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net

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