OTTAWA—Canada’s central bank made yet another unscheduled rate cut Friday to bring its key interest target down to a crisis-level low, and the federal government upped its financial lifeline to businesses in a two-pronged effort to further combat the economic shock from COVID-19.
It was the double shock from the CCP virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, and a sharp drop in oil prices that spurred the Bank of Canada’s surprise announcement—its second unscheduled cut this month and third overall this month—to lower its rate by half a percentage point to 0.25 per cent after it started the month at 1.75 per cent.
