At 10:00 am EST, Wednesday January 23rd, 2013, the Bank of Canada again did what we expected them to do… they continued to maintain their overnight rate. What this means to you is that once again the prime rate on your mortgage, line of credit or student loan will not change and remains at 3.00%. This of course is fabulous news but as always, I like to remind you to make the most of the low payments you still have as the rate will increase in the future. Have you chatted with a financial advisor about a Tax Free Savings Account or some RRSP contributions to trigger a potential income tax refund next year as your payments continue to remain low? If you don’t have a financial advisor, let me know and I’d be happy to recommend one to you.
Here is an excerpt of the announcement from the Bank of Canada and what they had to say about their decision:
“The economic expansion in the United States is continuing at a gradual pace, restrained by ongoing public and private deleveraging, global weakness and uncertainty related to fiscal negotiations. Despite a marked improvement in peripheral sovereign debt markets, Europe remains in recession, with a somewhat more protracted downturn now expected than in October. Growth in China is improving, though economic activity has slowed further in some other major emerging economies. Supported by central bank actions and by positive policy developments in Europe, global financial conditions are more stimulative. Commodity prices have remained at historically elevated levels, though temporary disruptions and persistent transportation bottlenecks have led to a record discount on Canadian heavy crude. In Canada, the slowdown in the second half of 2012 was more pronounced than the Bank had anticipated, owing to weaker business investment and exports. Caution about high debt levels has begun to restrain household spending”
Based on this news, the Bank doesn’t expect the economy to reach full capacity until the second half of 2014.. much later than they projected. Based on this, they are unlikely to increase their rate in the foreseeable future with any change most likely to occur possibly as late as Fall 2013 to early 2014! Remember, that any increase to the prime rate since 1992 has only been by 0.25% at any ONE time, so you won’t see a large significant increase all at once.
Canadian fixed mortgage rates for first mortgages haven’t changed much at all since the last announcement, at around 2.99% to 3.09% for a five year fixed term.
The next announcement on any change to the prime rate is March 6th, 2013 at which time I’ll be in touch again.
Before I go, let me ask, when do you think the BoC will increase the overnight Canada bank rate?
