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The Bank of Canada is predicted to keep interest rates on hold when it makes its January announcement on Tuesday.

However, the experts say rates will likely rise in the coming months as the central bank attempts to prevent a crippling rise in personal debt.

According to a Reuters poll, Canada's leading interest rate strategists all expect the benchmark interest rate to remain at 1 per cent this week, allowing the economy more time to adjust to the last rate hike in September at a time when the U.S. economy -- Canada's biggest trade partner -- is still struggling to create jobs and recover from recession.

The central bank last raised the benchmark interest rate in September following quarter point rises in June and July. Prior to that, the key interest rate had sat at a record low 0.25 per cent for 13 months to ease the impact of recession on the economy and encourage the flow of money through the almost stagnant financial system.

As expected, the Bank of Canada began to raise the country's key interest rate from its unnaturally low level Tuesday with a quarter point hike to 0.5%. The increase was almost assured after figures yesterday showed that the Canadian economy grew at a rocketing 6.1% annualized clip in the first quarter of the year.

Other signs in the economy have also heralded a rate rise: the stock market has been improving, house prices are rising steadily, consumers are spending again and core inflation is close to breaking through the central bank's comfort zone.

The hike was the first in three years and marks the beginning of a new rising interest rate cycle. But whether rates rise quickly to prevent the Canadian economy from overheating, or slowly to cushion the impact of a debt crisis in Europe, is unclear.

The central bank appears to be playing it by ear as concerns about the Greek debt crisis continue haunt the global economy, and staying flexible is a wise thing for it to do. However, investors had been expecting the central bank to give a clearer indication about the future of rate hikes and as a result the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Canadian dollar slipped on the news.

So what do Canada's leading economists expect?