Public debt charges jumped nearly $2.3 billion with the latest interest rate hike by Canada’s central bank, according to estimates from a report by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).
In September 2020, the PBO’s “Economic and Fiscal Outlook” forecast that a 1 percentage point increase in interest rate by the Bank of Canada (BoC) would raise public debt charges to $4.5 billion in 2021–22.
On Dec. 7, the central bank raised the rate by half a percentage point, elevating its interbank loan rate to 4.25 percent from its last update at 3.75 percent in October.
The hike marks the seventh consecutive time the bank increased its overnight rate target this year. The interest rate was 0.25 percent last December….