Bank of Canada Leans Away From Interest Rate Hike
CBC The Bank of Canada lowered its growth forecast for 2013 today, keeping its benchmark interest rate steady at one per cent for the 19th consecutive time. The bank also lowered expectations for how much it thinks the economy will expand in 2013 to two per cent. In October, it had estimated 2.3 per cent growth in gross domestic product for the year. “The slowdown in the second half of 2012 was more pronounced than the Bank had anticipated,” the bank said in a statement posted on its website today. As well, Canada’s economy can no longer count on household spending and the housing sector to propel it forward. In a change from previous reports, the bank says Canadian household debt is stabilizing at around the record 165 per cent of annual disposable income, and credit growth has sharply declined from a peak of 12 per cent in 2008 to Continue Reading