This morning, March 7, 2018, the Bank of Canada released a press
release stating that they would not increase their overnight rate.
After the rate hike to 1.25% in January 2018, none of the
experts surveyed at Bloomberg thought there would be another increase. Those
predictions proved true today.
“While the economic outlook is expected to warrant higher
interest rates over time, some continued monetary policy accommodation will
likely be needed to keep the economy operating close to potential and inflation
on target” the press release continued.
This announcement comes almost two months after the most recent interest rate increase in January 2018, which was the third increase since June of
2017.
This marks the second of eight statements from the Bank of
Canada regarding interest rates for 2018. The remaining six will be released
over the course of 2018, with the next scheduled to release on April 18, 2018.
The Bank confirms that the inflation
rate is “running close to the 2 per cent target” and that wage growth has “firmed.”
They also note that the recent trade talks have an “important and growing
source of uncertainty for… Canadian outlooks,” As NAFTA talks wrapped up
this week in Mexico City, the results will show themselves in time.
For
those of you with a variable term
mortgage, or those considering one, you can breathe a little easier knowing
that experts are predicting at most one
more interest rate increase for the rest of the year.