The Bank of Canada today lowered its target for the overnight rate by 50 basis points to ¼ percent. This unscheduled rate decision brings the policy rate to its effective lower bound and is intended to provide support to the Canadian financial system and the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic (see chart below). Strains in […]

For the third time this month, the Bank of Canada cut to the overnight rate, this time slashing off 50 basis points to a new level of .025%. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 0.50% and the deposit rate is .025% percent. In a press statement, the central bank said this “unscheduled rate decision brings the […]

With all the recent rate related news, I wanted to highlight some key articles that have come out over the last week: Federal Reserve cuts rates to zero to support economy during coronavirus pandemic The last time the Fed cut rates to zero was during the global financial crisis just over a decade ago. In […]

January Starts 2020 With Strong Canadian Job Growth Bottom Line: Canada’s economy has been boosted by the fastest pace of immigration in the Group of Seven countries, spurring a housing boom that is pushing up demand for everything from plumbers to electricians. Indeed, Bloomberg News recently highlighted the more substantial surge in male employment in […]

Market interest rates have fallen sharply since the coronavirus-led investor flight to the safety of government bonds. The 5-year government bond yield–a harbinger of conventional mortgage rates–now stands at 1.34%, down sharply from the 1.60+% range it was trading in before the virus became global news (see chart below). This morning, one of the Big-Six […]

Canadian 5-year Yield Fell To Lowest Level Since October Global investors are selling stocks and piling into the safety of bonds in response to fears that the Wuhan coronavirus could disrupt global economic activity. Gold prices, another haven, have also risen. The Government of Canada 5-year bond yield traded this morning at roughly 1.35%, well […]

The Bank of Canada (BoC) announced today that it’s maintaining the overnight rate at 1.75%. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 2% and the deposit rate is 1.5%. The BoC has maintained the current overnight rate October of 2018, when it was raised from 1.5%. The Bank projects that growth in the Canadian economy will accelerate […]

The Bank of Canada held the target overnight rate at steady at 1.75% for the seventh consecutive decision date but will monitor closely the impact of the US-China trade war on economic activity around the world and in Canada. The second-quarter growth–posted at 3.7%–exceeded the Bank’s forecast in the July Monetary Policy Report (MPR), but […]

The Bank of Canada resisted pressure from investors by declining to signal it will soon follow global peers in easing monetary policy. At a decision Wednesday, policy makers left interest rates unchanged for a seventh straight meeting and said stronger than expected growth, as well as inflation on target, means current levels of stimulus are […]

In the current climate of political tension and trade disputes there are no certainties and the global economy is looking increasingly fragile, but while many central banks are cutting rates, the BoC looks set to stand firm. A panel of economists polled by Bloomberg suggests that Governor Poloz and his team will resist the growing […]