Bank of Canada sticks to talk of rate cut

Nathan Vanderklippe, Financial Post  Published: Tuesday, February 19,
2008

Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of Canada, took to the podium for his
inaugural speech and repeated -- virtually to the letter -- comments he
has previously made on the need for a cut to the bank's target overnight
lending rate.

"In line with our base-case projection and ...

Last week CMHC Canadain Mortgage and Housing announced housing starts for January were up from 184,700 units in December 2007 to 227,700 units in January of 2008. A few things are contributing factors for this the low mortgage rates, solid employment and a high level of consumer confidence. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased in four of Canada's five regions in Janua ...

 Many Canadians especially those earning net middle incomes of about $60,000 a year,
have racked up credit-card debt that's almost doubled since 1990 to
$22,500 from $12,000 on average.

In December the unemploment rate in Canada stood at 5.8 per cent, a 33-year-low. While consumer bankruptcies have held steady over the last eight years.  Credit card debt has been higher than years in the past ...

Canada wont experience the same problems as the US Sub Prime market. This is due to a number of reasons the biggest is the lending guidelines in Canada are far more stringent than our American counter part.

 The effects on Canada of the weaker U.S. economic outlook will lead to additional downward pressure on export growth.  Domestic demand in Canada is projected to remain strong in the months ahead. This strength is supported by continued income growth associated with the increase in commodity prices since October, which has led to further gains in our terms of trade.  The bank rate was lowered ...