This is getting a little repetitive but Bank of Canada’s key overnight rate remains at 1/4% unchanged again this month. The overall Bank Rate remains at 1/2% as well, which means cheap money continues in the market place.
The statement from the bank is mostly that the recovery continues and we should be out of this whole mess some time near the end of 2010 or the beginning of 2011, but the important line to read is:
Conditional on the outlook for inflation, the target overnight rate can be expected to remain at its current level until the end of the second quarter of 2010 in order to achieve the inflation target.
The end of the second quarter is June, which means interest rates will be going up this year, and you are running out of time to take advantage of these cheap rates to pay down your debt (assuming you are not paying Credit Card debt, in which case, this has no effect on you). If you have a variable rate mortgage can you lock in, or has the bank already altered it’s rates so that locking in might not be as attractive now?
Remember if the bank raises interest rates to say 2.5% somewhere along the line, that is a huge percentage increase compared to where they are right now.
CPI Numbers Today Too
To confirm the Bank of Canada’s inflation statement, Stats Canada will be posting the CPI numbers for the end of 2009, which should be a very interesting statement. With gas prices inching their way back to $1 per liter, I suspect inflation is back it’s just how bad is the question.
