No-growth GDP may spur Bank of Canada to cut interest rates
Canada’s economy didn’t grow in October, and that has analysts wondering if the central bank could be eyeing another cut to its key lending rate. Statistics Canada data released Wednesday showed...
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A year after Poloz’s surprise interest rate cut, what’s changed?
(Justin Tang/CP). It’s rate decision day, when Canadians find out the answer to the question on everybody’s minds: Will Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz cut rates again, or won’t he? (Update: He...
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My fellow economists: Bay Street might be right this time
Michael Nagle/Bloomberg/Getty Images This post was originally published by Canadian Business. A rift has emerged in the Canadian economic community, with Bay Street economists calling for fiscal...
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Negative interest rates? That’s a negative.
A customer uses an ATM at a Toronto-Dominion (TD) Bank branch in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Thursday, May 28, 2015. (Ben Nelms/Bloomberg/Getty Images) The questions never change...
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Why negative interest rates won’t work
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz attends an Empire Club of Canada luncheon in Toronto, December 8, 2015. (Chris Helgren/Reuters) There are two things to consider when it comes to Stephen Poloz;...
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What does the Bank of Canada really think drove oil prices?
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz listens to a question as he holds a new conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick With...
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Carolyn Wilkins on central banking in a slow growth world
Photograph by Erin Schaff Carolyn Wilkins was a 13-year veteran of the Bank of Canada when, in 2014, she was appointed to the job of senior deputy governor, making her the bank’s highest-ranking woman...
View ArticleDebt levels depend on fiscal and monetary policy mix: Poloz
OTTAWA – Private and public debt loads are closely influenced by the mixture of how much the government spends and the level of monetary policy, such as the key interest rate, Bank of Canada governor...
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Are low interest rates doing more harm than good?
Massive Lightning strike over Canary Wharf business park buildings and River Thames (Guy Corbishley/Alamy) Mark Carney was oddly framed by TV cameras when he made his hasty post-Brexit address the...
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What’s the use of saving money, part 2
(Shutterstock) Anniversaries, especially arbitrary ones, are pretty much the most wretched topic a grasping journalist can put to words. So without further delay… Five years ago this month Maclean’s...
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Stephen Poloz to corporate Canada: Cheer up
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz smiles during a news conference in Ottawa in 2013. REUTERS/Chris Wattie Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz is known for speaking in metaphors. He has used...
View ArticleStephen Poloz: On housing market, interest rates a ‘very blunt tool’
VANCOUVER – Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz says risks from household debt and the housing market will be better addressed by the government’s recent policy moves, not by adjusting interest...
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Grandpa, what’s an interest rate hike?
If the past few months have taught us anything, it’s that things that seem impossible sometimes happen. Britain would never give up membership in the European Union, four decades after first joining...
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Why Bay Street is more bullish than the Bank of Canada
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz listens to a question as he holds a new conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick This...
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Stephen Poloz: ‘No one wins a trade war. Everybody loses.’
Stephen Poloz, governor of the Bank of Canada. (Photograph by Jaime Hogge) On March 28, in commemoration of Canada’s 150th birthday, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz gave a speech in his hometown...
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The Bank of Canada’s muddled message on house prices
A real estate sold sign hangs in front of a west-end Toronto property Friday, Nov. 4, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy Ultra low interest rates, which have been at or below 1.25 per cent for 96...
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Stephen Poloz’s journey from sunny to sour to so-so
Stephen Poloz, Governor of the Bank of Canada, leaves a news conference after the release of the bank’s Monetary Policy Report, in Ottawa, Wednesday, April 12, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand...
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The Bank of Canada interest rate decision shows Sunny Stephen is back
REUTERS/Chris Wattie Sunny Stephen is back. If you have been following along, you will know that Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz and a number of Bay Street economists have been at odds this year...
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What weak inflation means for Canadian consumers
(Loblaw Companies Limited) The cost of living in Canada grew the least in six months in May, Statistics Canada reported on June 23. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.3 per cent from a year earlier,...
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A flabby core makes the Bank of Canada’s interest rate decision tough
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz REUTERS/Edgard Garrido Remember the “cauliflower crisis” of 2016? Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz does. It’s stamped in his memory as an excellent example of...
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What higher interest rates mean for real estate, debt and the economy
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Announcements from the Bank of Canada are rarely something to get excited about, but this Wednesday is shaping up to be different. For the first time in seven years,...
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Here’s how fast Canada’s economy is now growing
(This post has been updated to reflect the interest rate increase on July 12.) As the majority of private sector economists expected, the Bank of Canada hiked interest rates on July 12 for the first...
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Why the Bank of Canada hiked interest rates
Stephen Poloz, Governor of the Bank of Canada, leaves a news conference after the release of the bank’s Monetary Policy Report, in Ottawa, Wednesday, April 12, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand...
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Interest rate hike: Why Stephen Poloz still sounds anxious
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz REUTERS/Edgard Garrido The Bank of Canada’s decision to raise its key interest rate to 0.75 per cent today was entirely expected. The bigger question was what’s...
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Why banks are so slow to lower lending rates, but so quick to hike them
(iStock) Canada’s biggest banks raised their prime interest rates one after another this week following the Bank of Canada increase of its policy rate to 0.75 per cent from 0.5 per cent. The base...
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The interest rate hike is going to leave its mark on Canadian exporters
(Shutterstock) Canada is the second G7 country to embark on the path of normalizing monetary policy. Raising the key interest rate to 0.75 per cent, the Bank of Canada also adopted a bias towards...
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What slow inflation could mean for interest rates
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michelle Siu Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index rose one per cent in June from a year earlier, as cheaper gasoline allowed Canadians to stretch their paycheques, the agency...
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Canada’s economy is really overachieving right now
Some economists bet the red-hot economy will convince Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz to hike interest rates next week. (Adrian Wyld/CP) Eat your heart out, Donald Trump. The U.S. President...
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Why a September interest rate hike makes sense
Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz holds a news conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Dec. 15, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick How about another indicator that the era of...
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That was probably it for interest rate hikes in Canada for a while
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz may have solved his communication problem. It might not seem like it. The central bank’s decision to raise interest rates for a...
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Canada’s job market still shows weakness below the surface
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Canada’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.2 percent in August, matching the lowest since October 2008, Statistics Canada reported Sept. 8. Nothing wrong with that....
View ArticleCanadians rushing to lock down five-year fixed rate mortgages
If you’re renewing a mortgage this month, chances are you will do so at the five-year fixed rate. At least, that’s what the numbers by LowestRates.ca show. Consumers are rushing in droves to lock in...
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Canada’s economy enters a ‘Goldilocks’ phase
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz smiles during a news conference in Ottawa in 2013. REUTERS/Chris Wattie Canada’s economy is slowing: growth now is only fast, instead of really fast. The Bank of...
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Higher rates could spell comeback for five-year mortgages
The Bank of Canada expects higher interest rates in 2018, a year when almost half of mortgages are up for renewal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Time to get ready for a return of the popularity of...
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Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un are why you can go on a borrowing binge
The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz If you are one of those Canadians who binged on credit like it was the second season of Stranger Things, you can relax: the central bank is in no hurry to punish you for...
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For Canada, 2018 brings an ‘unbelievable’, ‘ridiculously strong’ job market
A higher minimum wage at fast food and other businesses could be what finally stokes wage-driven inflation in Canada this year. Economists were left grasping for superlatives to describe the country’s...
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Stephen Poloz’s job is about to get harder
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz listens to remarks after addressing the Canadian Club of Toronto on Thursday December 14, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young U.S. President Donald Trump is...
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The most important charts to watch in 2019
Welcome to the fifth annual edition of Maclean’s Charts to Watch. When we assembled our last charts package for 2018, one of the most frequent topics was the fate of NAFTA. For good reason. The...
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This is how Canada’s housing correction begins
Kirk Marsh first noticed the mood start to turn in Vancouver’s housing market a year ago. As a real estate investor who buys homes and condos then fixes them up for resale, Marsh has an excellent...
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Stephen Poloz on taming the housing market and the dangers of a trade war
In six years as governor of the Bank of Canada, Stephen Poloz has tried to guide Canada’s economy back to calm waters in the endless wake of the 2008 global banking crisis. But trouble won’t stay away,...
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