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Canadians got a brief reprieve from pricing pressures in December as a sales tax break, which kicked off in the middle of the month, brought down prices. The country’s annual %Inflation rate dropped to 1.8 percent, slightly lower than expected. For the month, the consumer price index contracted by 0.4 percent. However, excluding food prices, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.1 percent in December.

Before the Prime Minister announced his resignation as head of the Liberal Party, Justin Trudeau temporarily lifted the federal sales tax from a number of items and sent checks to millions of Canadians dealing with rising costs. The sales tax break, which impacts a tenth of the components of the CPI basket, began on December 14 and will end February 15. Trudeau announced on January 6 that he would resign after a new leader of the Liberal Party was chosen.

The tax break applies to children’s clothing, shoes, toys, diapers, restaurant meals, beer, and wine. It also applies to Christmas trees, various snack foods and beverages and video game consoles.

The Bank of Canada has slashed its key policy rate by 175 basis points since June to 3.25 percent and is expected to cut rates by 25 basis points at its meeting next week.