Canadian market participants expect the Bank of Canada (BoC) to start cutting its key policy rate from a 22-year high of 5.00% in April 2024, a month later than the previous forecast, according to a survey released by the central bank on Monday, Reuters reported. The survey showed that a median of 27 financial participants expect interest rates to drop to 4.00% in the fourth quarter of 2024, up from an expectation of 3.50% in the previous survey released in July. The survey was conducted from Sept.
Canada
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The owner of Quebec’s main flyer distributor announced on Friday it will end the 45-year-old service, forcing more than 50 beleaguered local newspapers to rethink their strategy as well, the Eckville Echo reported. Starting in May, Montréal-based packaging and printing company TC Transcontinental plans to scrap the flyer bundles, known in Quebec as Publisac — distributed to 2.5 million households outside the city as part of a shift to a thin leaflet delivered by Canada Post.
The Bank of Canada has urged banks to reconsider offering variable-rate mortgages with fixed payments, concerned about the number of borrowers faced with negative amortization of their loans, Reuters reported. “I think that product needs a close look and I think it’ll get a close look,” Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Friday. “I think you’ll see the industry reflect on how much they want to offer that product,” she added. Many variable-rate mortgages in Canada require borrowers to make regular payments in fixed amounts.
Canada will face rising economic uncertainty if the province of Alberta carries out a threat to withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Friday, Reuters reported. Freeland made her remarks at a press conference after a phone call with regional finance ministers to discuss the issue. Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner later on Friday said the province would not leave fellow Canadians without a stable pension and its associated benefits.
Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Tuesday that she was cautiously optimistic about settling a dispute with the United States about Ottawa's planned digital services tax (DST) on large technology companies, Reuters reported. The digital services plan aims to address the challenge of taxing digital giants like Alphabet and Amazon.com that can book their profits in low-tax countries. The U.S. government has repeatedly objected to the planned Canadian tax. Washington says it unfairly singles out U.S. firms, and urged Ottawa to scrap the plan.
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The Bank of Canada's monetary policy is working to cool the economy and relieve price pressures, but the central bank is prepared to raise interest rates further if inflation persists, Governor Tiff Macklem said on Monday, Reuters reported. "We held our policy rate steady (last week) because monetary policy is working to cool the economy and relieve price pressures, and we want to give it time to do its job," Macklem told the finance committee in the House of Commons.
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Canada's central bank on Wednesday highlighted stress building in customers with auto loans, while saying mortgage owners largely coped from a record pace in interest rate increases which has squeezed household budgets, Reuters reported. In its quarterly Monetary Policy Report released on Wednesday, the Bank of Canada said indicators of financial stress point mainly to non-mortgage holders, without giving details.
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The Bank of Canada (BoC) may not have to raise its key overnight rate further if inflation cools in line with the central bank's expectations, Governor Tiff Macklem said, Reuters reported. "The economy is not overheated anymore and ... we do think there's more inflation relief in the pipeline, and if that comes through, we won't have to raise rates further," Macklem said. The BoC on Wednesday held its key overnight rate at a 22-year high of 5.0% but left the door open to more hikes, saying price risks were on the rise and inflation could exceed its target for another two years.
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The Bank of Canada left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5 per cent on Wednesday amid increasing signs that rate hikes are weighing on the Canadian economy, but it left the door open to further hikes over concerns about stubborn inflation, YahooFinance.com reported. Economists had widely expected the central bank to leave its rate steady as the economy slows and inflation eases.
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Canada's main banking regulator has directed lenders to hold more capital against mortgages that have seen their repayment terms extend beyond the original terms due to the record pace of interest rate hikes, to contain risks building in the system, Reuters reported. Canada's nearly C$2 trillion mortgage market has been shaken up by the central bank's interest rate hikes, with many home owners only able to make interest payments, resulting in their mortgage repayment terms getting longer.
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