The Bank of Canada conducted a survey recently. The outcome of the survey is that all the leading banks in Canada are expecting the Central Bank to increase the interest rates from January 17th. All the six leading banks, barring one, have predicted an increase in the interest rates. The Bank of Montreal does not vouch for interest rate hike on Jan 17.
The companies in Canada are optimistic about the sales in the future. They are not worried about the labor shortages and capacity pressures. The sales have been good for the past few months. Most of the business expects the trend to continue. They feel that the future sales will move at a sustainable pace.
Douglas Porter, the chief economist, said that the Business Outlook Survey is convincing enough to show that the central bank is going to increase the rates. The slowness in the economy in Canada is seen in the energy producing areas. The other regions are doing well.
The job market is booming and many companies are on a hiring spree. All these are signs that the bank will increase the rates. They need to do it to see off the inflation that has arisen after two hikes in 2017.
