Economy ‘progressing well’ despite trade uncertainty, Bank of Canada says
Canada's economy is "progressing well" in the face of protectionist threats and the impact of higher interest rates on heavily indebted consumers and homeowners, a top Bank of Canada official says.
"While the future is subject to some notable uncertainties … trends over the past few quarters have been quite encouraging," deputy Governor Timothy Lane said on Thursday in an early afternoon speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade.
Mr. Lane spoke less than an hour after news emerged that Canada would officially receive a temporary exemption from new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. He called the news "encouraging."
Afterward, speaking with reporters, he underlined how quickly the news around steel has shifted in only a few days.
"It's still a pretty fluid situation and I would say we're not in a situation of calling all clear," he said.
"I would say there's still a significant degree of uncertainty around the future trade regime."
During his speech, Mr. Lane said that despite a marked slowdown in economic growth at the end of 2017, the Canadian economy, over all, is "progressing much as we thought it would." He cited solid global economic growth, the historically low jobless rate and a nascent uptick in wages among the positives.
His relatively upbeat remarks come a day after the central bank opted to keep its benchmark interest rate at 1.25 per cent. The Bank of Canada has raised rates three times since last July.
Moving gradually on rate hikes is giving the bank time to take stock of new economic data and a host of uncertainties, he explained.
"We've been balancing the risk of undermining the economic expansion by moving too quickly with the risk of delaying too long and needing to raise rates sharply later to rein in inflation," Mr. Lane said.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/rep...ertainty-bank-of-canada-says/article38251079/
Canada's economy is "progressing well" in the face of protectionist threats and the impact of higher interest rates on heavily indebted consumers and homeowners, a top Bank of Canada official says.
"While the future is subject to some notable uncertainties … trends over the past few quarters have been quite encouraging," deputy Governor Timothy Lane said on Thursday in an early afternoon speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade.
Mr. Lane spoke less than an hour after news emerged that Canada would officially receive a temporary exemption from new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. He called the news "encouraging."
Afterward, speaking with reporters, he underlined how quickly the news around steel has shifted in only a few days.
"It's still a pretty fluid situation and I would say we're not in a situation of calling all clear," he said.
"I would say there's still a significant degree of uncertainty around the future trade regime."
During his speech, Mr. Lane said that despite a marked slowdown in economic growth at the end of 2017, the Canadian economy, over all, is "progressing much as we thought it would." He cited solid global economic growth, the historically low jobless rate and a nascent uptick in wages among the positives.
His relatively upbeat remarks come a day after the central bank opted to keep its benchmark interest rate at 1.25 per cent. The Bank of Canada has raised rates three times since last July.
Moving gradually on rate hikes is giving the bank time to take stock of new economic data and a host of uncertainties, he explained.
"We've been balancing the risk of undermining the economic expansion by moving too quickly with the risk of delaying too long and needing to raise rates sharply later to rein in inflation," Mr. Lane said.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/rep...ertainty-bank-of-canada-says/article38251079/
