Bank of Canada keeps rates at 1.75%, trims 2020 economic forecast
[Global News – January 22., 2020]
The Bank of Canada is keeping its key interest rate target on hold at 1.75 per cent and forecasting a slower-than-expected start for the Canadian economy for 2020.
The central bank says in its latest forecast that the Canadian economy will grow by 1.6 per cent this year, down 0.1 of a percentage point from its projection in October.
While some of the slowdown late last year is being chalked up to a strike at CN Rail and an outage at the Keystone pipeline, the central bank says the weaker figures could also signal that global uncertainty is affecting Canada more than previously predicted.
The picture the bank painted in its report Wednesday was a sharp contrast from its last look at the economy, when a degree of domestic resilience remained in spite of weaker data points outside Canada’s borders.
