As expected, the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady this month – but experts say there could still be a rate hike in December. The Federal Open Market Committee decided at its meeting to hold rates steady yet again, its hand stayed by lukewarm inflation and recent weak economic data. The decision to hold off […]

Good news and bad news for homeowners; low interest rates are set to be around for a while but the Canadian economy is likely to remain sluggish. Speaking at a conference in the UK, the Bank of Canada’s senior deputy governor Carolyn Wilkins said that weakness in the global economy poses a risk to Canadian […]

LONDON _ The senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada says investors and those in the financial system need to adapt to the reality of slower growth and associated low interest rates. In a speech to the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum in London, England, Carolyn Wilkins said Wednesday that means changing investment […]

The Bank of Canada held the target for the overnight rate at ½% Wednesday. Canada’s economy shrank in Q2, according to the BoC; however it’s still predicting a bounce back by the end of the year. “Second-quarter GDP was pulled down by the Alberta wildfires in May and by a drop in exports that was […]

As analysts and investors worldwide focus on the likelihood of a US interest rate rise, a poll of economists has found little expectation of anything similar from the Bank of Canada until 2018. The Reuters survey of 35 experts was certain that there would be no change from the 0.5 per cent rate this month […]

While petroleum prices have seen significant upward movement in the past few months, an observer argued that oil is still quite a long way from becoming a positive influence on the flagging Canadian economy.  “Oil is trading in a dead spot for the Canadian dollar; it’s neither good nor bad,” Bank of Nova Scotia (Toronto) […]

WASHINGTON – Britain’s decision to leave the European Union will reduce global economic growth this year and next, the International Monetary Fund says. The IMF said Tuesday that it is shaving its estimate for worldwide growth to 3.1 per cent this year and 3.4 per cent in 2017. Both estimates are 0.1 percentage points lower than the […]

The Bank of Canada won’t let sky-high housing prices deter it from cutting rates – what would that mean for key real estate markets? One former banker and current broker weighs in. “From a Vancouver perspective, I don’t know that that would make a huge difference,” Ric Wilson, a broker with Mortgage Architects in Vancouver, […]

The chaos that ensued in stock markets in the aftermath of the U.K. electorate’s “leave” vote on its Brexit referendum Thursday (June 23) has left global finance reeling, and Canadian real estate will not emerge from the tumult unscathed, according to a market observer.  In a June 24 client note, Dominion Learning Centres chief economist Dr. Sherry […]

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada can weather market turmoil after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, while economists forecast the Bank of Canada is likely to continue to hold interest rates steady for longer or even cut them further. Trudeau said in a statement Canada is well-positioned to endure economic uncertainty and […]