OTTAWA, July 12 Reuters The Bank of Canada BoC on Wednesday is expected to hike its key overnight rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a 22year high of 5.00 as economic growth continues to fuel a tight labor market and sticky underlying inflation, analysts said.

Last month, the Canadian central bank raised its overnight rate to 4.75 also the highest level since 2001 after a fivemonth pause, saying monetary policy was not restrictive enough. It then said further moves would depend on the picture painted by the latest economic data.

While there have been some signs of cooling, economic growth has been resilient and the housing market has shown signs of picking up despite nine rate increases totaling 450 basis points since March of last year. The economy regained momentum in May, likely growing 0.4 on the month, after stalling in April.

The BoC will announce its decision at 10 a.m. EDT 1400 GMT.

Inflation has been running above the Bank of Canada39;s 2 target for 27 consecutive months and there39;s no end in sight, Desjardins Group economists Royce Mendes and Tiago Figueiredo said in a note.

We expect the Bank of Canada to raise its policy rate to 5.00 and leave the door open to more hikes this fall.

Twenty of 24 economists surveyed by Reuters expect the central bank to lift rates by another quarter of a percentage point and then hold them there well into 2024. Money markets see more than a 70 chance of a rate hike on Wednesday, and are fully pricing in such…