Commentary The Bank of Canada (BoC) has raised the key overnight rate to 5 percent and the Bank Rate to 5.25 percent. The increases of one-quarter of a percent were widely anticipated by market observers. Coincidentally, the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) for June was released and the core rate, at 3 percent, was lower…

The Federal Reserve announced on June 14 that it has “paused” its relentless pace of interest-rate hikes for the first time in 15 months.  In March,2022, the Fed commenced  hikes, then continued as follows: Fed Meeting Rate Increase  Target Rate March 15–16, 2022 +25 basis points 0.25–0.5 percent May 3–4, 2022 +50 basis points 0.75–1.0…

Interest rates on mortgages have spiked above 6 percent amid fears that the U.S. Federal Reserve could raise benchmark interest rates even further in a bid to contain inflation. The interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.28 percent as of June 14, 2022, according to Mortgage News Daily. This is a jump of…

Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have exceeded 4 percent for the first time in more than two years as overall mortgage applications declined for the week ending Feb. 11, based on data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. “The 30-year fixed-rate saw the largest single-week increase since March 2020 and…

OTTAWA—The Bank of Canada is keeping its key interest rate target on hold at 0.25 percent. The central bank is citing the economic conditions and ongoing uncertainty from the pandemic as reasons for its decision. It also says that the earlier-than-anticipated arrival of vaccines has reduced economic uncertainty from “extreme levels.” Still, the bank says…

OTTAWA—The Bank of Canada says the national economy will go in reverse for the first quarter of 2021, hammering the hardest-hit workers again on the path to a recovery that rests on the rollout of vaccines. Workers in high-contact service industries will carry the burden of a new round of lockdowns, which the central bank…

OTTAWA—Canada’s central bank will update its economic forecast for the country Wednesday when it announces its interest-rate decision, offering a glimpse into its outlook for COVID-19 recovery. The Bank of Canada said in October the country had been spared from a worst-case economic scenario, but it still didn’t see a recovery taking hold until at…