Citing ‘threats to global rebound’ the Bank of Canada has announced that they will leave the benchmark interest rate at 1%.
In explaining its decision to stand pat, which was expected by investors and economists, the central bank said private demand in the United States is “picking up slowly,” growth in emerging markets has started to cool to a more sustainable pace, and sovereign debt problems in several European countries “could trigger renewed strains” in global markets.
While the central bank anticipated a slow and grinding U.S. rebound, and though growth in developing nations such as China remains “robust,” policy makers noted that Canadian exports, which are needed to drive the recovery as debt-burdened consumers pull back and government stimulus spending runs out, have been disappointing in recent months.
Indeed, third-quarter growth data released last week indicated that the sales abroad that will be so crucial in the months ahead remain a weak spot, holding the economy to its worst performance in a year.
Read the full article in the Globe and Mail. Will you buy now with rock bottom interest rates or wait for those global economic risks that inspire them to have an effect on local house prices? The ‘how much a month’ crowd can get some pretty decent deals as long as they don’t look at the big number, but that doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for future interest rate increases or negative equity refinancing.
