OTTAWA — Stephen Poloz has kept markets on edge ever since an unexpected chop to the Bank of Canada’s key interest rate in January — the first adjustment, up or down, in four-and-a-half years.
The Bank of Canada governor and his policy team are likely to keep their options open on Wednesday, maintaining the trendsetting lending level at 0.75 per cent — down from the one per cent set in September 2010.
Poloz has said the “insurance” cut is working for now. But plenty has happened since the central bank’s surprise 25-basis-point cut in the rate on Jan. 21. The Canadian economy has been sideswiped by the global collapse in oil prices, threatening to pull resources-dependent Alberta into recession, perhaps Saskatchewan along with it. It hasn’t helped that the U.S. economy also got off to a slow start in 2015. Now, bank watchers are waiting for the other shoe to drop — or, more likely, to go up.
We asked some of Canada’s top economists to take stock of the Bank of Canada’s policy decisions this year — their effectiveness and where the key borrowing level is heading next, and when.
Click here to read what the top economists say about the Bank of Canada's policy!
The Bank of Canada governor and his policy team are likely to keep their options open on Wednesday, maintaining the trendsetting lending level at 0.75 per cent — down from the one per cent set in September 2010.
Poloz has said the “insurance” cut is working for now. But plenty has happened since the central bank’s surprise 25-basis-point cut in the rate on Jan. 21. The Canadian economy has been sideswiped by the global collapse in oil prices, threatening to pull resources-dependent Alberta into recession, perhaps Saskatchewan along with it. It hasn’t helped that the U.S. economy also got off to a slow start in 2015. Now, bank watchers are waiting for the other shoe to drop — or, more likely, to go up.
We asked some of Canada’s top economists to take stock of the Bank of Canada’s policy decisions this year — their effectiveness and where the key borrowing level is heading next, and when.
Click here to read what the top economists say about the Bank of Canada's policy!
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