Friday our friends at the Bank of Canada came out and made their standard announcement about how they aren’t going to raise their interest rates. Their view of the Canadian economy is a bit more optimistic:
Recent developments suggest that the outlook for the Canadian economy is marginally improved from the January MPR. Although the economy will likely grow faster than forecast in the first quarter due to temporary factors, underlying economic momentum remains around trend, balancing domestic strength and external weakness. Private demand is now expected to be slightly stronger than projected, owing to improved sentiment and highly-supportive financial conditions. Canadian household spending is expected to remain high relative to GDP as households add to their debt burden, which remains the biggest domestic risk. Net exports have been supported by stronger-than-anticipated U.S. activity but are expected to contribute little to growth, reflecting still-moderate foreign demand and ongoing competitiveness challenges, including the persistent strength of the Canadian dollar.
They also seem to think inflation will keep running around 2.0% (but remember using their index, not the Stats Canada overall inflation rate). For now, money continues to be loose, but the scuttlebutt on the streets is that there will be rate increases early in 2013. I also said that last year, so who knows?
Did you change your clocks last night? If not, you are now an hour late for whatever you planned on doing today, with the clocks going forward this morning. Â Hope I did, or I will be late for Church!
On the Twitter feed (sorry nothing last week, I was busy coaching basketball (another one of my odd past times, but I am only an assistant (or comedic relief, if you watch me coach)), there were some interesting older posts from the Big Cajun Archives:
- I started off with a fun post about an odd expression I heard on the radio Kippers? No it has nothing to do with salted fish.
- My continued discussions about Mass transit found me bringing back the Car or Bus discussions.
- You shouldn’t really be getting a refund if you planned things right but if you do What to Do with Your Tax Refund, is an interesting question.
- I do get a little sarcastic on-line and I give a hint as to why with Snappy Answers to Financial Questions.
- Just to round things out for those with kids here is a good one Real World Example: Kids Allowances.
Preet has already posted this video, but I do find it quite funny, and it is still very topical.
