The Bank of Canada kept interest rates unchanged for the first time in nine meetings, saying it’s prepared to hike again if the economy veers off its forecast course, Bloomberg News reported. Policymakers led by Governor Tiff Macklem made good on a January pledge to hold the benchmark overnight rate at 4.5% on Wednesday, the first pause among major central banks that was expected by both markets and economists. Officials kept the door open to further rate increases, however, reiterating that they’re willing to raise borrowing costs again if necessary.

Mexico's inflation likely slowed in February but still remained well above the official target, fueling expectations the central bank will raise its key rate again in its next monetary policy announcement at the end of March, Reuters reported. The median forecast of 17 analysts shows annual inflation at 7.69% in February, down from the 7.91% posted in January, but nevertheless far above the Bank of Mexico's target of 3% plus or minus one percentage point.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with his job as a delivery driver bringing plenty of overtime and the cost to borrow at record lows, James Kebe went on a spending spree. He leased a boat and an all-terrain vehicle, and when his bank offered him a bigger line of credit, he maxed it out. Then interest rates started rising at their fastest pace in generations. And because Kebe’s line of credit had a floating rate, his monthly payments soared, too.

Retail giant Nordstrom will exit the Canadian market, shutting down its 13 stores in the country amid stagnant sales, the company said. The move will cut approximately 2,500 jobs, the Washington Post reported. Nordstrom’s decision makes it the second major American retailer to wind down operations in Canada this year. Bed Bath & Beyond, which has come close to filing for bankruptcy in the United States, had in February cited insolvency to close its Canada stores, according to court documents. Court filings by Nordstrom in Canada reveal a dismal picture.

Mexico’s central bank trimmed its economic growth forecasts for this year and next, after raising borrowing costs more aggressively than expected in February, Bloomberg News reported. Banxico, as the central bank is known, estimates that gross domestic product will expand 1.6% in 2023, according to the main scenario of its quarterly inflation report released Wednesday. That’s below the 1.8% seen in the previous report, which was published Nov. 30. For 2024, it forecasts growth of 1.8%, down from 2.1%.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday he will launch a plan to tame inflation with other Latin American governments, Reuters reported. Lopez Obrador said he has already spoken with the presidents of Brazil, Argentina, Cuba and Colombia to join forces in a plan that seeks to remove tariffs to reduce the price of food items. "We are going to carry out an anti-inflationary plan of mutual aid and growth, for economic and commercial exchange between Latin American countries," the president said in a regular news conference.

Omar Mejia, recently appointed deputy governor of Mexico's central bank, said on Wednesday the institution could consider slowing the pace of raising its key interest rate and the economy should continue to grow this year despite tight monetary policy, Reuters reported. "I believe that going forward we could consider slowing the pace of rate adjustments, as it is already very close to the appropriate level to consolidate a de-inflationary process," he said in a podcast interview with Grupo Financiero Banorte.

Canadian manufacturing activity expanded at a faster pace in February as measures of output and new orders both rose to nine-month highs, while inflation pressures continued to ease, data showed on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 52.4 in February from 51.0 in January, posting its highest level since July. Before January's reading, the index had been below the 50 threshold that separates growth from contraction for five consecutive months.

The Canadian economy unexpectedly stalled in the final three months of 2022, but likely rebounded in January, data showed on Tuesday, a result that backs up the Bank of Canada's aim to keep interest rates on hold at its next policy meeting in March, Reuters reported. Annualized fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) was flat versus the previous quarter, Statistics Canada said, ending a streak of five consecutive quarterly increases. It was far below analysts' median forecast for a 1.5% increase.

Toronto-Dominion Bank said Monday it agreed to pay more than $1.2 billion to settle a lawsuit by investors claiming it aided R. Allen Stanford’s $7 billion Ponzi scheme more than a decade ago, Bloomberg News reported. Settlements also were reached with HSBC Holdings Plc, which will pay another $40 million, and Independent Bank Group Inc., formerly known as Bank of Houston, which will pay $100 million, according to Ralph Janvey, the court-appointed receiver for Stanford International Bank.