Bank of Canada Keeps Trendsetting rate at 1 percent, Lowers Growth Forecast

Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney (R) looks toward senior deputy governor Tiff Macklem at a press conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013, at which the bank announced that it is maintaining its trendsetting interest rate at 1 percent, the level where it has been for over two years, and suggested that a rate hike is “less imminent than previously anticipated.” The bank noted that the global economic outlook is weaker than earlier projected and also the slowdown in the second half of 2012 was greater than expected in Canada due to weaker business investment and exports. It expects the economy to grow by 2 percent in 2013, down from its 2.3 percent forecast in October 2012. The bank also stated that growth in household debt is expected to moderate further, with the debt-to-income ratio stabilizing near current levels at 165 percent. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

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