Canada posted a merchandise trade deficit of $5.7 billion, its largest deficit since August last year as imports hit a record high, boosted by shipments of gold, BNN Bloomberg reported. Statistics Canada said on Thursday the result compared with a deficit of $4.2 billion in January as imports rose 8.4 per cent to a record $72.1 billion in February. Imports of metal and non-metallic mineral products increased 45.6 per cent in February as imports of unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys more than doubled.
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By the time Laura Pelletier took out a two-week loan in November at an equivalent annualized interest rate above 1,800%, she was already deep in debt, according to a Bloomberg analysis. Pelletier lives in Ottawa, but almost none of the lenders she used were licensed in her home province of Ontario, and the cost of the loans far surpassed what was allowed by regulators. Soon, the only way to keep current on one debt was to take out another. Over the course of two months she borrowed just under C$12,600 from 22 different unlicensed lenders, and owed them almost C$21,000.
The Bank of Canada's governing council has agreed it will have to rely on its own judgment more than usual on rate decisions, given heightened global uncertainty, according to minutes released on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The central bank kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 2.25% on March 18 and Governor Tiff Macklem said the governing council would look through the Iran war's immediate impact on inflation but would respond if inflation became persistent. The Iran war sent benchmark crude oil prices soaring and fanned concerns of a broader spike in inflation.
As Toys "R" Us Canada prepares to ask a court for permission to put the business up for sale, it's closing at least two more stores, the Canadian Press reported. The chain has notified the landlords at the St. Laurent Centre in Ottawa and Woodgate Plaza in St. John's, N.L., that its stores there will soon close, its chief restructuring officer Neil Taylor said in court documents filed this week.
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The Bank of Canada on Thursday predicted it would have "a tough job" tackling the structural changes that it said were set to permanently alter the country's economic landscape, Reuters reported. Senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers also said the next five years could be as economically tumultuous as the last five. Increased trade protectionism by the United States, Canada's aggressive immigration controls and the adoption of artificial intelligence are here to stay, she said in a speech in Manitoba. The uncertainty fueled by U.S.
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The Bank of Canada’s priority is to ensure that higher energy prices stemming from the war in Iran do not morph into an extended period of elevated inflation, the central bank’s No. 2 official said, the Wall Street Journal reported. Officials expect the recent increase in crude-oil and natural-gas costs to lead to higher inflation in the coming months, Senior Deputy Gov. Carolyn Rogers said. Headline inflation in Canada dropped below 2% in February, prior to the sharp jump in energy prices due to the Middle East conflict.
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Most of the real estate insolvencies that have occurred in Canada have been development land where projects could not get off the ground and are not producing income. The recent insolvency of the Dixie Outlet Mall in Mississauga stands out because it is 91-per-cent leased to around 120 tenants, according to court documents, and thus is a large income-producing property, the Globe and Mail reported. The 35-acre Dixie Outlet Mall is owned by Toronto-based Slate Asset Management.
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Goeasy said on Tuesday it had secured waivers from lenders linked to certain financial covenants for the fourth quarter, easing the pressure on the Canadian non-prime consumer lender after it disclosed a big charge-off and write-downs, Reuters reported. Shares of the company rose 4% in morning trading as the relief helps it avoid raising additional equity. The Ontario-based company was at the risk of breaching several covenants after flagging about C$178 million ($129.61 million) in charge-off and other write-downs tied to its LendCare unit.
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Retail sales were up 1.1 per cent at $70.7 billion in January, driven by higher sales at motor vehicle and parts dealerships, Statistics Canada says, the Canadian Press reported. Sales were up in six of the nine subsectors it tracks, as the motor vehicle and parts dealers subsector posted the largest increase in retail sales in January — up two per cent, the agency said on Friday. Andrew Grantham, senior economist at CIBC, said retail sales appear to be starting the year strong.
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