The Bank of Canada will not raise its benchmark interest rate until the slack in the country's economy is absorbed, which has not yet happened but is getting closer, Governor Tiff Macklem said in a newspaper opinion piece on Monday, Reuters reported. Macklem also noted that while inflation risks have increased - driven by pandemic-induced demand shifts, supply disruptions and higher energy prices - the central bank continues to view the recent dynamics as transitory.
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Canadian injection molding machinery manufacturer Niigon Machines Ltd. has filed for bankruptcy and is now in receivership, Yahoo Finance reported. Infinity Asset Solutions in Toronto has been authorized to liquidate the two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. Niigon manufactured eight basic models - from 30 to 600 metric tons - of injection molding machinery. According to one industry source, Niigon covered "60 percent of the injection molding machinery market" in its recently constructed custom-designed and built 155,000 square foot plant, which opened in 2016.
The Bank of Canada risks cutting short the current economic expansion if it shifts its focus from reducing slack in the economy to tamping down inflation, potentially setting the stage for the next cycle of rate cuts, Reuters reported. The dilemma for the central bank comes from a situation where inflation is driven not so much by economic strength but by factors, such as supply shortages, that are outside of its control and could lead to more enduring price increases if inflation expectations were to rise.
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Canadian banks and insurers can resume dividend increases, share buybacks and increase executive compensation, the country's financial regulator said on Thursday, lifting a moratorium it has imposed on them since March 2020, Reuters reported. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) said in a statement these measures were effective over the past year and a half, but they are no longer necessary or fit-for-purpose and are being unwound. Canadian banks index has risen 83% during the 20 months the moratorium has been in place. The U.S.
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The owner of Canada’s most valuable shopping mall is planning to add apartment buildings to that property and two others around Toronto, creating mixed-use neighborhoods that invite renters to live where they shop, Bloomberg News reported. Oxford Properties Group’s plans for rental apartment towers at Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Canada’s most productive mall by sales per square foot, are still in an early stage, Chief Executive Officer Michael Turner said.
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Canadian defense firm Telemus Systems Inc. has filed for bankruptcy months after Ottawa canceled export permits for military goods and technologies to Turkey over Ankara’s role in the Nagorno Karabakh war, the Defense Post reported. The decision prevented the Ontario-based electronic warfare systems manufacturer from fulfilling pre-existing deals with Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. According to Middle East Eye, Telemus had been selling a range of electronic warfare systems to the Ankara-based company for its Anka drone.
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The Bank of Canada ended its bond-buying stimulus program and accelerated the potential timing of future interest rate increases amid worries that supply disruptions are driving up inflation, Bloomberg News reported. In a statement Wednesday, policymakers led by Governor Tiff Macklem announced they would stop growing holdings of Canadian government bonds, ending a quantitative easing program that has poured hundreds of billions into the financial system since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The Bank of Canada will continue pulling back its support for the economy at a policy decision this week, paving the way for the start of interest rate increases next year amid inflation worries, Bloomberg News reported. Governor Tiff Macklem is expected to reduce weekly government bond purchases by one half on Wednesday to C$1 billion ($809 million). That will mark the fourth time over the past 12 months the central bank has rolled back a program that has poured hundreds of billions into the financial system since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Canadian home prices barely rose in September from August as a recent slowdown in housing sales weighed, data showed on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, which tracks repeat sales of single-family homes in 11 major Canadian markets, rose 0.1% in September from August, marking the fourth consecutive month in which the monthly price increase was lower than the previous month.
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Canada's Competition Bureau watchdog may have to rely more on litigation after its proposed veto of a takeover was overturned, and this could make life harder for companies seeking to merge, the agency head said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Matthew Boswell, commissioner of competition, noted his bureau had tried this year to block western Canadian oil and gas waste firm Secure Energy Services Inc from buying rival Tervita Corp.
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