The Bank of Canada left its key lending rate at 2.5% Tuesday, as was widely expected. The BOC has held the target for the overnight rate unchanged since October 2004, but signaled in its post-meeting statement a change is likely in coming months "In line with the bank's outlook, some reduction in the amount of monetary stimulus will be required in the near term to keep aggregate demand and supply in balance and inflation on target," the statement said. "The risks to the outlook through 2006 appear balanced, but over the medium term risks related to global imbalances are increasing." Currency analysts are looking for a rate hike in September or October. The U.S. dollar traded at a three-month low against its Canadian counterpart Tuesday. One U.S. dollar would buy C1.2035, a drop of 0.6% from late trading on Monday.