Tax & Accounting Book-keeping & Consulting OtherIn its January 17 announcement, the Bank of Canada indicated that no changes would be made to its benchmark interest rate, meaning that the bank rate will remain at 1.25%.
In announcing its decision, the Bank noted that the outlook for the global economy has deteriorated and uncertainty has increased since the fall of 2011, and that it expects the U.S. recovery to proceed at a more modest pace than was experienced in the second half of 2011. Finally, while the Bank’s overall outlook for the Canadian economy is substantially unchanged, it does expect that commodity prices, with the exception of oil, will be below anticipated levels throughout 2013. The press release outlining the rate announcement can be found on the Bank of Canada Web site at http://www.bankofcanada.ca/2012/01/press-releases/fad-press-release-2012-01-17/.
The next scheduled interest rate announcement will take place on March 8, 2012.