Economists now see a soft landing for the Canadian economy, with no recession this year despite interest rates at a 22-year high, Bloomberg News reported. The economy will stall in the second half of 2023 but it won’t contract, according to a monthly Bloomberg survey of 27 economists. The median forecast sees the Bank of Canada holding its overnight rate at 5% well into next year — with no rate cuts until April. The results support the Bank of Canada’s view that economic growth is moderating, while core inflation remains elevated.
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Mexico has been hit with three sets of trade arbitration proceedings in the past few days, according to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), Reuters reported. First Majestic Silver and Silver Bull Resources, both Canadian companies, as well as U.S. food firm Arbor Confections have filed cases against Mexico, ICSID said in brief statements issued between Thursday and Friday. The proceedings all invoked the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) which replaced NAFTA.
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Bron, the finance and production company that backed films including Joker, Licorice Pizza, Bombshell and Judas and the Black Messiah, has filed for bankruptcy, its co-founder Aaron J. Gilbert said Wednesday, Deadline reported. In a letter to “friends, partners, team members and backers,” Gilbert wrote today that Bron — the parent company of Bron Studios and Bron Digital — had filed for creditor protection with the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Canada, where it is based, concurrent with chapter 15 in the U.S.
Perativ Holdings Ltd., a leading Canadian operator of ATMs, has filed for creditor protection after several years of operating losses, citing a pandemic-related decline in consumers’ use of cash, as well as two major thefts, the Globe and Mail reported. The company supplies banks with ATM management software and operates more than 7,000 “white label” ATMs. Such ATMs aren’t owned by banks, and are often located in small businesses that offer cash discounts or don’t accept credit payments.
An investor who allegedly kidnapped self-described crypto king Aiden Pleterski after investing $740,000 with him is asserting his innocence, iHeartRadio reported. Toronto police charged 39-year-old Akil Heywood, along with three others, with kidnapping Pleterski for ransom for three days last December. He has been released on bail for $10,000. Pleterski allegedly owes at least $35 million to cryptocurrency and foreign exchange investors, which petitioned the 24-year-old from Whitby, Ont., into bankruptcy almost a year ago.
Five men have been charged with kidnapping Ontario’s self-proclaimed ‘crypto king’ Aiden Pleterski in a bid to recoup their allegedly misappropriated investments, CBC Toronto has learned, the same day that a video of him visibly injured at the hands of kidnappers was shared with the outlet, Protos reported. 39-year-old Akil Heywood lost $740,000 in investments to the ‘crypto king’ and has been accused alongside four other men of kidnapping Pleterski last December.
The Bank of Canada raised interest rates for a second straight meeting, keeping the door open for more hikes as it pushed back inflation’s return to its 2% target, Bloomberg News reported. Policymakers led by Governor Tiff Macklem increased the overnight lending rate on Wednesday by 25 basis points to 5%, the highest in 22 years. The move was expected by most economists in a Bloomberg survey, and markets had put the odds at around three quarters. The bank provided little guidance on the future path of borrowing costs in the rate statement.
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Canadian Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan said negotiators have made progress toward a deal to end a strike by dockworkers at some of Canada’s busiest ports and he’s asked a mediator to get a final agreement done, Bloomberg News reported. The strike, which began July 1, has blocked the flow of goods through major maritime hubs on the Pacific coast, including at the Port of Vancouver and Port of Prince Rupert. The disruption has already hampered the exports of commodities and inbound shipments of manufacturing materials, while fertilizer giant Nutrien Ltd.
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The quarterly MNP Consumer Debt Index out this morning showed that Canadians who report being insolvent have reached a record high, the Financial Post reported. More than half of the 2,000 Canadians interviewed for the survey conducted by Ipsos reported that they were $200 or less away from not being able to meet their financial obligations, up six percentage points from the last quarter.
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