Tut Tut Tut the Bank of Canada puppet masters will have none of that kind of talk

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bank-of-canada-rate-decision-1.4490918

Big banks move to match Bank of Canada's rate hike

Central bank notes 'uncertainty about the future of NAFTA' as it hikes rate for 3rd time since last summer

1727 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.


 
Mike Hack

Is it me or does this new CBC site really suck......

Content disabled.

David Amos

@Mike Hack "Is it me or does this new CBC site really suck......"

Methinks its not you

David Amos

@Mike Hack There can be only one reason why CBC blocked my reply to you

  

Ken Evans

Necessary, and there will be more hikes. People need to get their debt in check.

David Amos

@Ken Evans Methinks the greater scheme of things dictates that truly wiseguys would get out of debt fast. Then liquidate everything of what is left that you don't cherish or need then wait for the Stock Markets to crash. After that one can buy everything back and a great deal more for a mere pittance. I know for a fact that is the Banksters' plan.

George Reid

@Ken Evans And no increase in my deposit rate again, hmmm

David Amos

@George Reid Why do you ponder? We all should expect that by now. If not just imagine how much the Banksters make on the difference as they delay.

 

Barry Todd

You don't have to listen to 24 hour news to know what condition the economy is, just follow the sign of the times in your neighbourhoods..........more and more $ stores, fast cash outlets, pay day loans, 7 - 10 years to pay off a new vehicle, used furniture & appliance rental stores and of course more and more food banks.

David Amos

@Barry Todd "You don't have to listen to 24 hour news to know what condition the economy is, just follow the sign of the times in your neighbourhoods"

I agree but common sense means less than nothing to Banksters, politicians and their spin doctors.

 

Rusty Shackleford

Interest rates are still ridiculously low....

george bath

@ron snell
con politics is about ratings
substance no where to be found

Michael Murphy

@george bath

You misspelled rantings

David Amos

@Michael Murphy No he didn't

They say that dudes such as you and I rant. Banksters and neo cons concern themselves with rates.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bank-of-canada-advancer-1.4489359

Bank of Canada expected to hike key interest rate to highest level since 2009

Experts predict benchmark interest rate will hit 1.25% Wednesday, a third hike since last year

682 Comments

Commenting is now closed for this story.

 
Linda Walker

"Canada's economy is growing solidly and the job market is positively booming"
Just more unbelievable propaganda. If this were true then why is the average Canadian more indebted than at any other time in our history ? Why are the Foodbanks unable to keep up with the dramatically increased demands ? Why the incredible increase in homelessness ? Seniors being financially forced to re-enter the workforce in minimum wage, part-time jobs just to meet their monthly needs ?
I'm sure StatsCan will explain it all in the next few weeks.

David Amos

@Linda Walker " Just more unbelievable propaganda."

You are correct

David Amos

@Tim Bradshaw "You notice that Statistics Canada will no longer release the figures regarding the number of people on Welfare"

Why is it that I am not surprised?

 
Marty Lee

Sunny Ways, Sunny Ways....

Trudeau, who for two years, took credit for and basked on the coattails and results of sound Conservative fiscal policy of the previous government.

Justin has emptied the cupboard in order to curry favour on the world stage, and has done nothing but waste money for two years, and has done nothing to implement a sound economic policy that would carry Canada into the next decade, he now finds out that budgets can't actually balance themselves.

Hurry up 2019...

David Allan

@Blanche Cote
"are you smoking funny cigarettes?"

He's just doing grade school arithmetic.

Scheer has 43% support from the CPC membership. That's how many voted for him. How can he hope to form a government with 43% of 38%?

Grade school arithmetic.

Chris Maurier

@David Allan .. But scheer is there to protect the middle class as he has proven since the age of 25 by sitting on Parliament Hill sucking up every perk he could ,,Just like every other Hard working Canadian.

David Amos

@ Chris Maurier Methinks many a true word is said in jest N'esy Pas?

David Amos

@David Allan What about the lion's share of us who usually don't bother to vote? What if we step up to the plate? Methinks your Grade school arithmetic may go out the window N'esy Pas?

 
Nicolas Krinis

Good news. Can't wait to see the day that it's at 5 or 6%. They have been punishing savers for over a decade now.

David Amos

@Nicolas Krinis "Good news. Can't wait to see the day that it's at 5 or 6%."

Anyone recall 2007 when interest rates began to climb? Whst happened the following year?

Rick Poulter

@Nicolas Krinis
I remember mortgages at 16%.......

David Amos

@Rick Poulter Me Too

 
Randolph William Musterer

Debt isn't wealth, debt is the money of slaves.

Dave Ryan

@Randolph William Musterer True, but actually debt can be used to create wealth if you know what you are doing. Debt in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing...it is too much debt that is not used to generate an appropriate return sometime in the future or debt that has been defaulted on that causes a problem.

David Amos

@Dave Ryan What did a "Good Book" that a lot of folks pretend to obey to say about borrowers and lenders?

 
Jay Bowman

Good for the savers, bad for the irresponsible.

David Amos

@Jay Bowman Nope

Methinks it is bad news for everyone except Banksters

 
Russell Clark

Guess the Liberal party has achieved what they wanted - make living more expensive for people on fixed incomes, make housing less affordable as mortgage rates rise. Glad to see they are still looking out for the average Canadian.

David Amos

@Russell Clark "Glad to see they are still looking out for the average Canadian."

Trudeau "The Younger" is following the Banksters' orders just like his Father and Harper and all the other Prime Ministers did since old R.B. Bennett quit in disgust.

 
David Zhou

I miss Steven Harper.

David Amos

@David Zhou "I miss Steven Harper."

I don't

David Amos

@David Zhou I bet Harper is loving the circus too much N'esy Pas?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bank-of-canada-rate-decision-1.4490918

  

David Zhou

I like Steven Harper so much.

David Amos

@David Zhou "I like Steven Harper so much".

Methinks thou doth jest too much N'esy Pas?

  

helen innamorato

Dont understand the need to raise interest rates again. No real signs of inflation rise .... Oil prices are going up but could be very temporary once US shaling increases. On the other hand, due to new stress test, house prices should come down. Basically, no major price increases.
Leave things alone.

David Amos

@helen innamorato "Dont understand the need to raise interest rates again."

Methinks the Banksters are merely engineering another stock market collapse

 
Jason DeBack

The BOC must "put their foot down on record household debt"

so what about putting the foot down o those caught CHEATING in the paradise papers?
what about putting the foot down on WORLD HISTORICAL record bank profits?
what about putting the foot down on wage stagnation?
what about putting the foot down on insatiable corporate greed, ceo bonuses in times of insolvency? 

David Amos

@Jason DeBack" what about putting the foot down on WORLD HISTORICAL record bank profits?"

Tut Tut Tut the BOC puppet masters will have none of that kind of talk

Big banks move to match Bank of Canada's rate hike

Central bank notes 'uncertainty about the future of NAFTA' as it hikes rate for 3rd time since last summer

Pete Evans · CBC News

The Bank of Canada, led by governor Stephen Poloz, has hiked its benchmark lending rate to 1.25 per cent. (Bloomberg)

Canada's biggest lenders have raised their prime lending rates on the same day the country's central bank moved its benchmark interest rate a quarter percentage point higher.

The Bank of Canada raised its key lending rate by a quarter point to 1.25 per cent Wednesday morning, the third time it has moved its benchmark rate from once-record lows last summer.

The bank rate has an impact what Canadians pay lenders for things like mortgages and personal loans. While the move means borrowers can expect to pay more, savers can expect to earn more, too, on savings accounts and guaranteed investment certificates.

That's exactly what happened later on Thursday afternoon, when Canada's five biggest banks — Royal, TD, CIBC, BMO and Scotiabank — all hiked their own prime lending rates by a quarter percentage point, effective tomorrow.

As of Thursday, Jan. 18, all five now have the same prime lending rate of 3.45 per cent. Prior to the Bank of Canada's move, their rates were all 3.2 per cent.

The central bank was widely expected to raise its rate after data in recent months showed gross domestic product growing, the job market healthy and the cost of living ticking higher.
The bank's benchmark rate is now at its highest level since 2009.

• Interest rates are about to go up — no, for real this time

In the MPR, the bank nudged up its expectations for how the economy will perform this year and next. The bank now expects Canada's economy to expand by 2.2 per cent this year and 1.6 per cent in 2019. Previously the bank was anticipating 2.1 and 1.5 per cent growth.

But while broadly positive about the economy's prospects, the bank cited "uncertainty about the future of NAFTA" as a reason for concern moving forward.

Rate hikes from the central bank can add up fast for Canadians with variable rate mortgages. (Scott Galley/CBC)

Officials from Canada, the United States and Mexico are set to meet again to discuss trade issues next week, and there are concerns that the U.S. is getting ready to unilaterally pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement — a development that would hit Canadian exports hard.

"At this stage, it is difficult to predict the possible outcomes of trade negotiations and the timing, incidence and magnitude of their effects," the bank said in its MPR, which mentions NAFTA concerns nine times in the 21-page document.

At a press conference, Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz expanded on that thought, telling reporters it is hard to come up with a firm number to gauge the impact of something as dramatic as implementing tariffs into a trade relationship that had previously been open.

"I would believe it would be net negative for both Canada and for the U.S.," he said of the theoretical demise of NAFTA, "but to actually quantify that is very difficult, because every sector is affected differently."

• The prospect of higher rates has Canadians worried about their debts

Reaction to the rate move was muted, as the decision was very much expected, and Canada's largest bank has already moved to match the central bank's hike.

But dark clouds on the trade horizon had many watchers downgrading their expectations.

"Today's rate hike was a rear-view mirror move," CIBC economist Avery Shenfeld said of the bank's decision to hike, but the concern over NAFTA "hints that the view out the front window isn't quite as sunny." At the very least, he said, the statement reinforces "the need to be cautious in how fast they hike ahead."

Economist Frances Donald with Manulife agrees with that assessment, telling CBC News in an interview that while the market was expecting as many as three hikes this year, the situation is fluid.

"If we continue to see those NAFTA related uncertainties," Donald said, "and if we see some downsides to the economy from new mortgage rules that came in or from potentially the increase in minimum wages then we'll probably be a Bank of Canada that needs to go more slowly."

"But as long as the data continues to come in as it's been doing, steadily improving" she said, "we are going to see more rate hikes."

How a rate hike will affect your mortgage

This calculator takes your current mortgage rate, and assumes it will rise by 0.25 per cent to match the recent hike from Canada's central bank. If that happens:

Bank of Canada expected to hike key interest rate to highest level since 2009

Experts predict benchmark interest rate will hit 1.25% Wednesday, a third hike since last year

Pete Evans · CBC News · January 17

Traders who invest in a financial instrument known as an overnight index swap reckon there's a better than 90 per cent chance the Bank of Canada will raise its key interest rate on Wednesday. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)

The Bank of Canada is widely expected to hike its benchmark interest rate for the third time in a year this morning. 

After staying on the sidelines for the better part of a decade following the financial crisis, Canada's central bank raised its key interest rate twice last year, to one per cent. The bank's rate is important because it filters down to affect the rates that Canadians get from banks and other lenders for things like mortgages, GICs and savings accounts.

After a slew of data suggesting Canada's economy is growing solidly, and the job market is positively booming, experts say the central bank is likely to raise its key lending rate by 25 points to 1.25 per cent — a level not seen since 2009.

Traders who invest in a financial instrument known as an overnight index swap reckon there's a better than 90 per cent chance of a rate hike on Wednesday.

But what happens after that is anyone's guess.

"The bank faces a tricky balancing act," said Karl Schamotta, a market strategist with foreign exchange firm Cambridge Global Payments in Toronto. "It must raise rates to head off potential inflationary problems and slow growth in household debt, but at the same time, sustain existing asset prices and avoid a consumption crunch that could derail the economy."

• Debt to disposable income ratio rises to yet another record at 171%

• Interest rates are about to go up in Canada — no, for real this time

Markets are expecting as many as three 25-point rate hikes this year.

To debt-laden Canadians, even tiny hikes will add up fast. A homeowner today with a $300,000 25-year mortgage can easily get a variable rate starting at three per cent, costing them $1,419.74 a month. But if their lender hikes their rate three times to keep pace with the Bank of Canada, that monthly payment rises to $1,537.67 — an extra $100 a month.

And make no mistake: If the central bank hikes its lending rate, the big banks will follow suit.

Expect variable-rate loans to go up. And although fixed-rate mortgages are more tied to what's happening in the bond market than to the central bank's rate, it's worth noting that four of Canada's five biggest lenders raised their posted rates for a five-year fixed-rate loan in recent days.

Economists, too, are near unanimous in their view that we should expect a rate hike today. But that doesn't mean Canadians should expect lending rates to rise as quickly or as dramatically as they once fell.

"A rate hike does not necessarily mean that the bank will embark on a rapid tightening cycle," Toronto-Dominion Bank economist Dina Ignjatovic said. "The bank must be careful in how quickly it raises so as to not derail the economy."

It's certainly not hard to come up with reasons for why caution may be the preferred route for the central bank, and the biggest reason can be summed up with one word: NAFTA.

'Trump's bark'

Uncertainty over the North American Free Trade Agreement is a huge black cloud hanging over Canada's economy at the moment, as no less an authority than the president of the United States has repeatedly threatened to tear up the agreement and deal a potential body blow to Canadian exports.

But some think threats to tear up NAFTA will prove to be idle. "Trump's bark is much worse than his bite," said Ranko Berich, an analyst at payment processing firm Monex Canada.

• Analysis
  'We used to be savers': Why Canadians ignore warnings about debt

• Fed raises interest rates, keeps policy outlook unchanged for 2018

Berich notes that Trump has repeatedly backed away from his more inflammatory campaign promises, including his pledge to start a trade war with China, and to force Mexico to pay for a border wall. He expects the same will happen with his NAFTA threat.

"A unilateral NAFTA repeal would be an extraordinary act of economic self-harm given the level of trade and supply chain integration that depends on the agreement," he said.

At the very least, the drama around NAFTA may give the central bank some pause, Bank of Montreal economist Robert Kavcic said.

"This week's NAFTA headlines about higher odds of a U.S. exit might have sparked increased concern at the bank, perhaps prompting at least some second thoughts before hiking," he said. "While the Bank of Canada has said they will not allow uncertainties to paralyze policy-making, we'll see if their actions match their words."