Canada’s inflation rate ticked up slightly last month, mainly because of higher gas prices due to a boost in global oil costs.

Statistics Canada puts cost of living at 2.9 percent higher in March of this year compared with March of 2023.

The annual rate was 2.8 percent in February.

Regardless, the new inflation number will likely not change the underlying economic assumptions on which Tuesday’s federal budget is built.

And it’s not likely to change the Bank of Canada’s interest rate policy which is designed to wrestle inflation to around 2 percent.