Growth this year will be stronger than had been projected in October but is expected to stall through the first semester, the bank said in its quarterly Monetary Policy Report, which includes new forecasts. OTTAWA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada on Wednesday hiked its benchmark overnight interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.5%, its highest level in 15 years, and said it would likely pause to measure the cumulative effect of previous increases. "Governing Council is prepared to increase the policy rate further if needed to return inflation to the 2% target."