Bank of Canada Financial News

Statistics Canada said Friday.The economy contracted 0.2 per cent annually in the quarter, the agency said, which was enough for some economists to believe the Bank of Canada would keep its key interest rate on hold at its next decision Sept. 6.StatCan also revised down its earlier GDP figures for the first quarter to 2.6 per cent growth, down from 3.1 per cent.The pullback in the second quarter came as housing investment fell 2.1 per cent to post its fifth consecutive quarterly decrease.New construction dropped 8.2 per cent in the quarter, while renovation spending also fell 4.3 per cent.While Canadians spent more overall in the quarter, StatCan noted that on a per-capita basis, spending was down 0.7 per cent in Q2.An early estimate by the agency had estimated Q2 growth at an annualized rate of one per cent.

Canadian consumers are facing mounting financial pressure amid higher interest rates, and it’s something Canada’s biggest lenders are bracing for. But there are steps that borrowers — and the banks themselves — can take to soften the blow.

As rising interest rates are boxing many individual buyers out of Canada’s housing market, brokerage Royal LePage says in a new report that Canadians are increasingly teaming up with family and friends just to afford a home.

Canadian millennials, particularly those who own a home, are set to face steep interest costs and economic damage in the months ahead, according to a new report from RBC.

inflation fight, but experts warn it could also mean a steeper downturn domestically this fall.The early stages of China’s rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic spurred hope for a stronger global recovery at the start of this year, but recent months have seen some economic forecasters slash expectations for the world’s second-biggest economy.Here’s a look at what’s behind China’s faltering economy and the ripple effects it could have in other countries.China stocks fell to around nine-month lows on Monday as investors reacted to milder-than-expected measures by authorities to boost confidence in the economy, with sluggish recovery, high youth unemployment and property woes keeping sentiment fragile.Economic output and consumer spending came in below expectations in July, coming off one of China’s weakest quarters for annualized growth in decades.Jimmy Jean, Desjardins’ chief economist, said in a note on Aug. 11 that slowing foreign-direct investment, Western trade restrictions and a trend of multinational corporations reconfiguring their supply chains away from China post-COVID are all compounding to hamper growth.“We were always skeptical of the narrative that China’s reopening would save the global economy this year,” he wrote.

The annual rate of inflation rose to 3.3 per cent in July, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.

The waning of a factor helping to push down inflation means the Bank of Canada will be relying on a pronounced slowdown in the economy this fall to keep prices from rising more, experts say.

Forecasters anticipate this week’s consumer price index report to show inflation rose last month, signalling a reversal in progress after a year of steady declines.

The typical Canadian has little reason to adopt a central bank-issued digital currency, which could cause problems with its broad acceptance, according to a new paper from the Bank of Canada.

Cryptocurrency ownership in Canada declined in 2022 due to a plethora of factors including uncertainty in regulation, fear of digital asset scams, and unfavorable market conditions.

The Bank of Canada (BOC) reported a decline in the ownership of Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies in the country last year as neither market conditions nor regulations sided in the favor of Canadian crypto investors, according to a BOC study published last week.

Company profits are not to blame for the high inflation Canadians experienced in the past two years, a Bank of Canada report suggests.

Canada’s economy kept growing in May, but early signs of a long-awaited slowdown started to appear in June, according to Statistics Canada.

As the Bank of Canada’s interest rates hikes ratchet up the pain on borrowers, traditional wisdom says better savings rates might follow.

The Bank of Canada’s policymakers said they are still prepared to raise their benchmark interest rate further even as they hiked rates to their highest level in 22 years earlier this month.

The Bank of Canada will not raise rates again and will start cutting a little later than previously anticipated, according to a survey of market participants released by the central bank on Monday.

The annual rate of inflation cooled to 2.8 per cent in June, marking a milestone in the Bank of Canada’s efforts to fight raging price pressures.

Pressure from higher interest rates and a lack of affordable housing means renters living on minimum wage in almost every neighbourhood across Canada are falling behind, a new report shows.

The Bank of Canada has shifted to a less prescriptive messaging strategy than it used in January when it signaled a rate-hike pause that reignited the housing market, which added to inflation and the need to resume tightening five months later.

A return to Bank of Canada interest rate hikes and growth in new listings started to cool off the housing market in June, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The prime rate at Canada’s six largest banks rose in lockstep after the Bank of Canada’s latest rate hike on Wednesday, further tightening access to credit and the cost of borrowing for Canadians.